Tuff luck
by Mrs.PonyboyCurtis
Summary: When Sam McMillan arrives in Tulsa and takes one look at her new house, she can only imagine the worst to come. Until she meets her neighbors, and gets pulled into something that completely changes her life. COMPLETE!
1. Moving in

**Disc: I don't own any of The Outsiders, I own Sam and company... Pip Pip! **

SAM'S POV

"What a dump."

I said when I saw the home I was gonna be living in from now on.

"C'mon Sam, perk up. I hear Tulsa's got nice people." My brother Mac tickled my ribs. No one can cheer me up. I had to leave my home, Indiana, all my friends and my dad. God, I miss him. My dad was my best friend, and then he got cancer. I may tell everyone that I hated my dad; I may tell them that he was a drunk, but I only say that so it can numb my own pain. It doesn't always work.

I looked up from the box I was carrying and noticed my mom sleeping in the car. Her face was mashed against the window and a line of drool was dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"God, Trinny. Get up."

I smacked my mom after opening the car door. She fell out and about a half-dozen beer bottles fell out after her. To put it bluntly, my mom is the drunk. I kind of switch my parent's roles, just so people don't try to pity me. I hate pity. I had the biggest urge to step on my moms head, but I didn't. You do not wanna see my mom when she's drunk and angry. Let's just say I have a lot of bruises and scars. Not only from my mom either.

I looked up at Mac, who was combing his long, black hair. I wish I had his hair, but no, I'm stuck with my fuddy-duddy red hair. Mac's name was actually Daniel, and our last name is McMillan, but to him, Daniel is a 'wussy-boy' name. Anyway, Mac ran up to me and slapped me hard across the face.

"Sam! What the hell are you doing?"

Yeah. Let's just say Mac is a little two-faced.

"Nothin'." I said, rubbing my cheek.

"Well I'd prefer to see ya doin' somethin'." He said as he lifted Trinny up by under the armpits. I never refer to my mom as mom. To me, a mom is someone who cares about you. That's the opposite of Trinny. So I just call her Trinny. Mac calls her mom, but he's a lot closer to her then me. Maybe because he drinks too. But, whatever. I picked up a couple of boxes marked "Fragile" and carried them inside the house.

"Holy shit."

I whispered to myself. Maybe if dad hadn't have died, we would have had more money. Then again, we wouldn't be here if he hadn't died. The house was about the size of a nice-sized bedroom. There was one bathroom and two bedrooms, and a kitchen. I looked inside the nearest bedroom. It was the size of a bathroom. I poked my head in the next one and found it slightly smaller. God. The 1st one was the master bedroom. Me and Mac had to share this one. Maybe I'll just sleep in the kitchen. If Mac is as popular here with the girls as he was in Indy, let's just say I don't want to be in that bedroom _ever. _I felt a hard nudge in the middle of my back.

"Move it or lose it, little sis."

Oh goody. Mac's back. He dropped the box he was holding on my toe.

"This is our room?" A few curse words slipped through his teeth and he said,

"You're gonna sleep in the kitchen. Kay?"

I stomped out of the room shouting over my shoulder, "Fine with me."

Mac ran after me and pulled me back.

"I'm sorry Sami." Yeah. I told you he has mood swings. I think he's bipolar. I'm not sure. He takes all kinds of pills at night and in the morning, but he's never told me what they're for.

"Don't call me that Danny." I said his name with great emphasis and he scowled at me. I ran back out to the car and found Trinny laying on the ground, her face smashed into the cement. How could she sleep like that? I stepped over her fat body and opened the trunk of the car. A small box labeled, "Sam's stuff" was sitting under a pile of other boxes. The word stuff was crossed out and replaced with "crap". Warm regards go to Mac for this deed. I lifted up the box and carried it into the kitchen. There was a small cupboard that was undoubtedly supposed to be for dishes, but we don't have dishes, so I used it for my own stuff. I opened the brown cardboard and pulled out a battered rabbit.

"Bob!"

I whispered into it's soft fur. Bob was my rabbit that my dad gave me when I was little. Hey, I was little. I didn't know many original names. I hugged Bob and placed him on top of my cupboard. Returning to my box, I next pulled out books, a blanket, an oil lamp and a million candles. I love candles. They remind me of sunsets. So I placed my items around my new "room". Sitting on my cupboard, I gazed around my house. I suddenly heard voices. New voices. Great. Old neighbors who will insist on pinching my cheeks and washing Mac's hair. People generally don't approve of greasy hair. Surprisingly, I heard laughter and lively conversation.

The voices sounded young, and deep. Guys! I walked out casually and closed the door behind me. I would die if the neighbors knew that I lived in a kitchen. My gosh! Tulsa has some good-looking guys! There were 3 guys standing outside talking to Mac. One looked about 20 or 19; another looked about 17 or so. Same age as Mac. And the last one looked, wow. Maybe 14 or 15. But he was one nice-looking 15 year old. His hair was long and he was wearing jeans and a tight shirt. Damn.

Mac was saying, "Kid, do you min-." But I interrupted him.

"Hey y'all." I said to them.

The 17 year old sure was cute. Boy, he looked like some kind of god or something.

"Hi there! I'm Sodapop. This is my buddy Two-Bit," he gestured to the older one. "And my kid brother Ponyboy."

Ponyboy. I love that name.

"Howdy."

I smiled at them and gave Ponyboy my hand. Shit, my nails. I pulled my hand away before he could notice my small nails. See, I bite my nails constantly. It's pretty gross, they're real short. He didn't seem to notice though. He was staring at my hair. Eww. My ugly, long red hair.

"Where do you live?" I asked him, and that's how we started talking. We talked about everything, or at least, it seemed like it. I found myself talking about my dad. Or, my fake dad. I told him how he died, but I told him that we weren't close and he was a drunk. I felt a lump form in my throat as I said it.

"I'm sorry. My parents died in a car wreck about a year ago."

He seemed sincerely sorry and I noticed that he wasn't like other boys. He was sensitive. The kind of guy who felt things like, well kinda like a girl. He noticed the look on my face and hurriedly said,

"Where is your mom?"

I considered telling him that she was in the bathroom, heaving, but instead I said, "Somewhere over the rainbow."

I laughed. It was getting dark. The sunset! I turned my gaze to the west and watched the sun. It was beautiful. When it was over, I noticed Pony watching it too.

"Sorry. I'm a sucker for sunsets. I think it's the most beautiful part of the day." I told him with an apologetic grin.

He blushed and said, "That's how I feel too. But I've gotta get back home. My brother Darry'll worry. He'll think I died or something. Bye."

He waved and I really wanted to just hug him, but he'd probably think I was psycho or something. So I just waved back. Ponyboy and Sodapop walked back to their house next door. I hardly noticed that the other guy (what was his name?) had left already. I just walked slowly back into the kitchen and lay down in the middle of the floor, thinking of Ponyboy. I think I really like him. I mean, I've had boyfriends before, but not ones that I really liked. Not like him. Maybe I'll go over to his house tomorrow. His brothers sound nice, and I don't think they'd mind. I curled up under a blanket and heard Mac come in. I pretended to be asleep so he wouldn't bug me. I let out a convincing snore and moved my back slightly. I was a pretty good actress. This floor sure is hard. I heard Mac leave and I drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep.

**Yay. Unfortunately, I won't have the next chapter up till this weekend or so.. But in the meantime, review! Flames too!**


	2. Visiting the Curtis's

**Disc: Hola, back with an update. Unfortunately, there will be some time between the updates. Oh yeah, I don't own the outsiders tear. I only own Sam, Trinny, Mac and Melissa. **

Waking up was real hard for me this morning. God, I'm sore. Try sleeping on linoleum all night and you'll know what I mean. It's also not the best feeling to be woken up by a heavy brother sitting on your stomach yelling "SAM! GET OFF YOUR ASS!" A great start to a great day. I pulled out a box of Lucky Charms that I hid behind my candles in my cupboard (Mac won't be stealing me lucky charms this time!) I absolutely LOVE Lucky Charms. Hey, I'm a kid at heart. Anyway, after eating my well-balanced breakfast, I had the wonderful assignment of waking Trinny up. Great. She was lying on her worn down mattress with her back to the wall. The mattress had ugly little flowers on it, and it didn't have any sheets. Like Trinny would take the time to use something as _ridiculous_ as sheets. Or pillows. All of her stuff was just kinda strewn across the floor in a haphazardly manner. Maybe when she wakes up, she'll trip over it all. Hah, I wish. I carefully poked my way across all of her junk and made my way to her 'bed'. God, she sure snores loud. I picked up a shoe off her floor and smacked her in the back with it, then quickly dropped it so she would think I just had a very firm hand.

"No! Not the cat!" She screamed as she turned over and promptly fell asleep again. Once again, I'm Sam, daughter of the world's most hung-over mother. How can I wake her up? I hit her with a hiking boot! I pondered this while Mac came into the room.

"Hey butt-face! What are you doin'? I thought I asked you to wake up mom!"

He hollered while holding two bottles of beer in each hand. One for him, one for Trinny. I glanced at the label, or what seemed to be the label. Mac had sloppily glued a piece of paper across the bottle and marked it Coors. He did this every once in a while when we didn't have any Coors in the house, because that's all Trinny would drink. I stole a look at Trinny's clock. 6:32 a.m. No wonder it was dark. I wonder if Pony is awake. Yeah right. Who wakes up at 6:30? Me. I am a very early riser. In my opinion, sleep is a waste of the day; I could be doing so many other things when I'm sleeping. Trinny, on the other hand, loved sleep. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm a waste of the day. But then again, Trinny could sleep with her face smashed into cement. I watched Mac hit Trinny in the head with one of the bottles and mutter something to her. Why is he up this early anyway? Oh yeah, Soda invited him to go to the movies or something today, and I'm pretty sure he's gonna spend the day trying to find a date. Probably won't be that hard for him either, back home, he had girls crawling over him like eels. Dad used to say that Mac would be one of those guys who got married 8 times, then divorced because he couldn't stay with one girl for more then a week. Once Mac got Trinny up, he said quietly to me, "I'm gonna be gone all day today, kay? You don't need to know where I'm going, so don't ask me." He then returned to his room and slammed the door. It's not like I don't know where he's going. During the rare silent moments me and Pony had, I listened to Soda and Mac. They were talking about some guy named Steve and some girls called Melissa and Janie. I realized I was alone with Trinny, and who wants to be alone with her? So I stumbled over a pile of laundry and headed out the door.

"Shit." I murmured as I checked and rechecked Trinny's purse that was hanging on the door handle, looking for cigarettes. Not like she ever smoked, she was too busy drinking. Mac smoked, not as much as me though. I guess I'll just head down to some kind of drugstore today to buy some. Maybe Pony could show me one. I wonder if he smokes... I'd feel real dumb if he didn't. But, it seems like everyone in this town smoked. I've been here for less then a day and already everyone I've seen smokes. I walked slowly back to my kitchen and glanced at the clock, 7:18. I wonder what time Pony wakes up. When should I go over? Er, wait, _should_ I go over? Maybe I should wait until he calls. If he calls. Well, if I don't hear from him, I'll go over at 11:00. Mostly everyone's up by then right?

The rest of the morning passed very slowly. I had to entertain myself by grabbing a bag of uncooked macaroni and making little pictures with them. Yeah, I'm amused easily. I can find fun out of just about anything. Once, I spent 2 hours watching my ceiling, because I could make pictures in it if I tried. So I played with macaroni for 3 hours or so until Trinny stumbled in and yelled at me for not letting the dog out, and we don't have a dog. The last hour or so I wandered around my house and watched Trinny chug a couple dozen beers. It's actually pretty amazing to watch her drink. It sounds weird, but it's true. If you really pay attention to her, you start wondering how she can fit all of the beer in the can into her mouth, then swallow it all in one gulp. She eventually hurls, and that's also pretty funny. So anyway, when 11 o' clock rolled around I finally walked out my door. I'm feeling pretty nervous. What if he thinks I'm weird for coming the day after? Is that weird? I felt like I was gonna melt into a pile of Sam soup by the time I reached his house. Obviously, it didn't take me more then a few seconds, seeing as he lived next door, but it seemed like ages. I knocked on the door and Sodapop answered.

"Uh, hi. Is Ponyboy here?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.

"Yep. Come on in." He replied cheerfully. I followed him through a living room that was cramped, but cozy. Soda led me to a bedroom that Pony was in, lying with his shirt off on the bed. He was reading a book, Gone with the wind. I noticed that he had tears in his eyes. He looks pretty good without grease in his hair.

"Hey Pony." Ponyboy jumped slightly and laid the book down. As he did this, I saw him hastily wipe the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Sam, hi. Geez, I wish I'da known you were comin', then I could've looked a bit more decent." He blushed and ran a hand through his hair.

"There's nothing wrong with the way you look." I replied. He really did look good. Pony stood up and picked up a shirt from a nearby pile. Darn. I was hoping he'd leave it off. I almost smacked myself in the head for thinking that. I don't even know him. Well, I know him enough to say he looks pretty damn good without a shirt on. He hopped up from the floor and smiled.

"So, what's up?" He asked me.

"Oh nothing much. Just wondering if you wanted to show me someplace where I can buy cigarettes. I'm practically dying without them." I watched his expression anxiously to see if he looked revolted. Phew. He smiled and said,

"Well if you're about to die, have some of mine." He tossed me a pack and I laughed gratefully.

"Thanks. Where can a girl buy some around here?"

Pony led me out of his room and toward his brother, the one I didn't meet. He was one big fellow. Pretty good-looking too. What did he say his name was? Darry? I hope so.

**Sorry I had to stop here.. I don't have time to write anymore right now, but I wanted to update today. Anyways, review!**


	3. Cigarettes, movies and Soc's

'**Ello. Here is chapter 3... Btw, this chapter is pretty much the set off for the entire story… Pay attention to little things. And also, sorry for my weird past tense present tense talk. All my stories end up like this; I never really know what tense it's in. Kinda confusing, but just try to ignore it. **

Disc: I don't own any of the outsiders (I wish I owned Ponyboy) I own all the people you don't know. Sam, Mac, Trinny, Melissa, Janie, Vic… Anyone else who I feel like putting in my story.

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"Hey Dar, I'm gonna go down to the corner store with Sam. I'll be home later." Pony said to his big brother. For some reason, this made me blush. Darry stood up and nodded an OK.

"Don't stay out past midnight. You know the rules Pony. I don't wanna find out that you killed another Soc again."

What? Ponyboy killed a Soc? What the hell? I decided I would ask him about it when we left. He was walking with his head down and I figured he was crying.

"Pony? What's wrong?" I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled gently.

"Nothing. Uh, you wanna walk?" He asked me. "That was a stupid question, of course we're walking. Not like either of us have a car." His ears grew red as he said these last words. I really want to ask him about what Darry said, but maybe I shouldn't. What if it was just a joke? Yeah. That must be it. A joke.

"Actually, how do you feel about going in style?" Instead of following Pony, I turned a sharp left and started to my house. He looked real confused and I just beckoned for him to follow me. I led him to our backyard and wheeled out Mac's black motorcycle. He would kill me if he knew I had taken it, but hey, I taught him how to drive it.

"Can you drive it?" Ponyboy asked me uncertainly.

"'Course I can. I taught Mac how to." I left out the part that I got into a wreck when I was 11. It wasn't my fault, Mac was tickling me and I just ran into those people in their car.

"Is this your brother's bike?"

"Yeah, but he won't care." Actually he would. But he's not here, so who cares? Pony smiled and mumbled something about not getting in trouble. I strattled the bike and threw Pony a helmet.

"Don't ya need one?" he asked me, holding the helmet out to me.

"Uhh…" How was I supposed to explain to him that I didn't want to mess up my hair? "Nah. It's all right. I'm more concerned about your health then mine." I laughed and pushed the helmet back toward him. Taking the helmet reluctantly, he sat behind me and put it on. I felt a shiver go down my spine as he put his arms around my waist. I started the bike, and then realized I had no idea where I was going.

"So Pony, where're we goin'?"

"Turn right here." He pointed at a light and I turned and almost ran into a big black mustang.

"Hey Greasers! Watch where yer goin'!" Screamed a bunch of Soc's from the car. I sped up to avoid them. After a while, we finally reached a drugstore. I hopped off and Ponyboy threw me the helmet. I stifled an 'umph' as I caught it hard. He was pretty dang strong for someone his size. He held the door open for me and I almost laughed. I don't know why. When I walked in, I noticed a display of Kool's over in the corner. Yes. I grabbed 3 or 4 packages and Ponyboy got a Pepsi. According to him, he loves Pepsi. When I paid, we headed back to the bike and Pony said,

"Wanna go to the lot?"

"The lot?" What the hell is the lot?

"The vacant lot. It's the hangout for us greasers."

I nodded and drove to the 'lot', with Pony directing me. When we got there, I just kinda froze. This place seemed kinda ominous. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Me and Ponyboy just sat there on the bike. It took me a while to notice his hands were still around my waist. He apparently noticed this too and shook his hands off.

"Sorry." He blushed furiously and slid off the bike. I wished he wouldn't. I swung my legs over on one side and just sat there. Pony was lying on the floor now, just looking up at the sky. He's really different. I mean, compared to all the other boys in this town, Pony doesn't act like a greaser. Wait a minute, what are we doing here?

"Pony?"

"Yeah?"

"What do y'all do here for fun?"

"Well, there's always the nightly double. We can go to the movies." He stood up and looked at me.

"Sounds good. Let's go." I started the bike and Pony loosely put his hands around me.

"It don't start for a while. Not till it gets dark. Whaddya wanna do till then?"

I turned my head and smiled.

"I dunno. How 'bout we just go somewhere?" Ponyboy suddenly smiled and said, "We can go to Two-Bit's house. Unless he's at my house…" So I sped off to wherever Pony pointed to. Eventually we reached a little house, it was cute. There was a woman sitting in front, reading a book. I guess this is Two-Bit's Mom. She looks like him, the same eyes and nose.

"Oh, hello Ponyboy!" She sat up and opened the gate. "Who's your friend?"

"Hey Ms. Matthews. This is Sam, she moved in next door." Pony handed the helmet he had been holding to me.

"To me? I never knew anyone was selling their house." Ms. Matthews looked up and down the street, as if to look for a moving van.

"No, I moved in next to the Curtis's." I held my hand out and we shook hands.

"Very nice to meet you, dear. Pony you sure have good taste. Not like my boy, who by the way is out with Bonny, some new blond who he met at a bar. She's not nearly as polite as you." She smiled warmly at me and took us inside the house.

"How are ya doing Pony? I don't see ya much anymore. How's Darry? And Soda?" She settled into an overstuffed armchair. "They doin' all right?"

"Yeah. Soda has a new girl, Melissa. And Darry is actually enjoying work ever since they had to repair the roof of this broad Jessica's house."

"Oh I sure am glad Darry has found something else to occupy his time then work." Ms. Matthews scooted off to the kitchen to take a roll out of the oven.

"She's nice. A lot like her son." I said to Pony. We were both sitting on a red couch.

"Yeah. If you need someone to talk to bout anything, come see Ms. Matthews." As if on cue, she walked in holding a tray of cookies and bottles of water.

"Here ya go. Enjoy yerselves."

"Excuse me, where's your bathroom?" I really had to go.

"Oh just down the hall." She pointed to a little wooden door. I thanked her and used the bathroom. When I came back, Pony was waiting at the door, holding his jacket.

"It's time to go. The movie'll be starting soon." Soon, we were waving good-bye to Ms. Matthews and driving to the movies. When we got there, Pony led me under the fence to get in.

"Back home, we used to climb over boxes to get in." I could tell Ponyboy was glad I said that, maybe he felt weird. So we watched the movie from a row of seats and about halfway through, I noticed Pony looking at me. I turned my head and laughed. The rest of the movie went by like this, Pony looking, me looking, me laughing, yeah it was pretty weird. We decided to leave after the first movie, and while we were walking back to the bike, I saw a group of teens hanging around about 30 feet from the bike. They were wearing fancy clothes and looked drunk. Soc's. One of them, I could tell, scared Pony to pieces. He was big, and African-american. Pony grabbed my hand and whispered softly to me,

"Ignore them and maybe they'll leave us alone."

"Lookie here boys! Grease love!" Said the big Soc. He seemed like the leader.

"We ain't doin' nothing. Leave us alone." I said, my voice shaking with rage.

"Hey Vic," another Soc said to the black guy, "they want us to leave them alone." All the Soc's laughed as I gave Ponyboy a look and we both bolted. We were 10 feet from the bike when I was shoved onto the ground. I felt a flurry of fists on my face. I heard Pony yelling for his brothers. I just took the punches like a man and eventually managed to throw a hard punch to some guy's jaw. With the punches slowing, I began kicking everyone in sight and using my free hand to punch anyone near me. I heard that Vic guy say quietly to Pony who was taking a beating next to me, "There's no one who can help you now, grease."

Suddenly, I felt all the Soc's stand up and run. I could hear yelling and screaming in the background. Someone was chasing the Soc's away. I just laid there, very quiet. What happened? I felt my own blood running down my lip and my cheek hurt like hell.

"Sam? Sami? You ok?" Pony asked in a whisper. I looked over and saw Pony with a huge cut on his ear.

"Yeah. I'm all right. Damn, I probably look lousy right?" I tried to laugh but only exclaimed with, " Pony! Your ear is practically cut open!"

Darry, Soda and Mac ran up with a couple of girls.

"Pony you need stitches. Let's go." Darry was pulling Pony to his feet while Soda helped me up. Great. I feel stupid. A girl who looked about 16 was wrapping a piece of cloth around Ponyboys' ear. She had sort of dark skin and was wearing a turquoise shirt and matching earrings and hairties. Even the ribbon around her neck was blue. For some reason, I immediately thought this was Soda's girl.

"Do you want a ride home, Sam?" She asked me.

"No. I wanna go to the hospital with you guys." Pretty soon, we were all crammed into an old Ford and Ponyboy's head was in my lap. We eventually reached the hospital and after Soda yelled at a few doctors, got into an examining room. While Pony was getting stitches, I remembered something I had heard while being jumped. When Darry was beating up the Soc's, Vic was running off, screaming threats behind him to Darry. He sounded pretty serious. I walked home from the hospital, feeling stupid, scared and tired rolled into one. When I got home, no one was there. Mac was still out with one of the girls I saw. Obviously, he didn't give a damn if I was jumped. I just walked to my kitchen, listening to my own footsteps. I laid on the cold linoleum of my kitchen floor and just dropped to sleep.


	4. Janie and Melissa

**HI there. Here's chapter 4. Well thanks to all the people who reviewed (it makes me feel special!) Special thanks to Sodapoplvr and Red-leader-South who are my actual friends from school. (By the way jess, I know Darry is yours! Lol)**

**Disc: This is stupid, it's not like I'm going to say: "I own all the outsiders!" I mean, duh we don't. But anyway, I own anyone you don't know. **

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That morning, I woke up cold and alone. I guess no one is home. Er, wait. Strange noises are coming from Mac's room. Oh god, eww. I really don't wanna know what he's doing with his date from last night. I sat up and looked outside. It's still dark! Oh, no wonder. I glanced at the clock. It's only 2:30 a.m. Why am I up this early? What happened last night? I got a sick feeling in my stomach as it all came back to me. I touched my cheek gingerly and felt a stinging pain. A huge purple bruise had formed across my entire cheek. Great.

I walked to the bathroom where I found Trinny, barfing. Surprise, surprise. Sometimes I wish I had a mother. I could never call Trinny my mother; she may be my biological mother, but she's not _really_ my mom if you know what I mean. I suddenly remembered my journal that I shoved into the back of my cupboard. I can't believe I forgot about it. Taking great care not to knock over my candles (which I did anyway) I gently pulled out my tattered old, red journal. I flipped through the pages and watched as my handwriting and spelling changed throughout the years, starting from clumsily drawn letters from 1st grade, ending in pretty cursive from 8th grade. Opening to an empty page, I started like this:

**_Notes 1/23/67_**

**_Here I am, in a new town, new house. Can't believe I forgot about you. _**

**_Ponyboy probably thinks I'm some humongous idiot now, after last _**

**_night. Some chick who can't even keep a bunch of fucking Soc's in_**

**_line. I wonder if he even likes me. Maybe I should just stop hoping. _**

**_Dad would know what to do in a situation like this. He always knew_**

**_what to do. Hold on, I think I hear Trinny getting up. No, she was _**

**_just trying to get up, then falling immediately. Stupid little bitch. _**

**_Sorry for my language. Ever since he died, I've been picking up _**

**_Some pretty bad habits. I really hope Mac doesn't find out about the _**

**_bike. After we took Pony to the hospital, I walked back and almost _**

**_forgot the bike. Smooth aren't I? I had to double back and get it. Then_**

**_I attempted to ride it back, and almost totaled it in a tree. Now there's_**

**_A whole mess of branches and leaves stuck in the tires. Shit. I was _**

**_supposed to clean those out last night, but I was too tired. Damn, I'll_**

**_have to do it now, before Mac wakes up. I'll write more later._ **

I closed my journal and stuffed it back in the cupboard, knocking over a few more candles in my attempt. I trudged outside to the back where I sloppily parked the bike. The metal gleamed wherever it wasn't covered in smears of mud and leaves. Shit. Shit, shit, shit! This'll take me ages to clean. I picked up the bucket I had brought from inside and filled it with icy water from the hose.

"Damn." I muttered as I realized I forgot the soap. After hurrying back into the house to get it, I began the long process of cleaning it. This would have gone well, if I hadn't have been interrupted by a scream.

"Sam! What the hell did you do to my bike!" Mac came storming out, pulling a petite girl with black, glossy hair by the hand.

"Nothing," I said, trying to cover the last spot that wasn't cleaned. "I'm just being a nice sister."

"Nice, my ass! Sure looks like you was doin' something to my bike!" He roughly let go of the girls hand and ran over to me. A second later, I found myself meeting the ground again as I was shoved by Mac.

"Don't ever, ever, fucking touch my bike!" He was belting me in the jaw and on my bruised cheek. You better believe that hurt. I heard little shrieks and gasps coming from his date.

"Oh, Mac! Can't you stop?" The girl was screaming at him. Stupid chick. He's not above hitting his own date if she bugs him. Yep I was right. He let go of me and punched her hard in the shoulder.

That drove me nuts. I pounced on him from the back and started socking him in the back of the neck. I didn't care if I killed him. I don't love him. Thoughts were racing through my head until I was forcibly thrown back by Mac. Geez. I'm sure smart. Mac's a million times stronger then me, and I thought he wouldn't be able to throw a little 90 pound girl over his back? I sat up, feeling woozy and saw a shaky hand out in front of me. It was the girl.

"You ok? You shore have a tough brother." She talked funny, but was nice.

"I'm fine. I get that a lot. Are you ok?" I sat up and tenderly pressed on my now bleeding jaw.

"Oh yeah. He didn't hurt me too bad. I'm Janie, by the way."

Ahh. The one Soda was talking about. She was way too nice for Mac. He needed a girl who was as tough as him.

"Sam," I put out my hand and she helped me up. "Boy, I probably look way worse then I did before."

"You look all right. Here, lemme take you to my house. I live with my roommate, Melissa. I can try to clean ya up a bit."

I was very grateful that she said that. I do not want to see Mac again for a long time. Even though he'll probably forget about it. He's like that. He can't remember when he beats on me and always asks me if Trinny did it.

"Thanks. I don't really want to go back inside my house." We walked a little ways and passed the Matthews home. Eventually, we reached a small, little apartment house.

"Melissa won't be up yet. Lordy if she'll be up by noon. She sleeps like there's no tomorrow." Janie giggled and opened the door to apartment 12A. It was cute, not fancy, but cozy.

"I'll go find our first aid kit. Hold on." I lowered myself into a fluffy armchair. I was asleep before Janie returned.

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"Hey there sleepyhead! I figgered you would be tired, waking up at 2 in the morning and all." I heard someone bustling about in the kitchen and a warm smell reached my nose. Opening my eyes, I saw Janie standing over me with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a few cotton balls and an assortment of other bottles and jars.

"Wow. Uhh, what time is it?" My voice was raspy and it stung when I talked.

"It's about 1:00 in the afternoon." Yelled a voice from the kitchen. I guess that's Melissa. Who's that? Oh right, the pretty matching girl. I almost laughed when she came out holding a tray that held a steaming cup of tea and some toast. Even her pajamas matched her earrings and accessories.

I sipped my tea slowly as Janie cleaned my wounds and tended to my bruises.

"Wow. Your brother sure can pack a punch." Melissa spoke gently and was sponging off my forehead with a cool cloth. "Ya know, he asked me out the first day ya'll arrived." Melissa said with a shudder.

"Really? Damn git." I moaned. I ached all over. Maybe I can just come live here. These people are already more my family then my real family, and I've known 'em for what? A day?

"I feel so bad for ya. I saw your mom." Janie was saying.

"Her mom? Soda told me her mom was a real nice little lady. Said you said so." Melissa looked confused. Oh no. My cover's blown.

"I don't.. Well… Uhh.." I tried to think of something to say, but Janie said it for me.

"Oh. I get it. Ya don't like to tell people 'bout your mom, so you tell 'em that she's like a friend to ya." Tears started welling up in my eyes and I mentally ordered myself not to cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

"I," A tear was balancing threateningly on my eyelash. "don't have a mother. I have a drunk." Here they come. Floods of tears came shooting out of my eyes like fireworks on the 4th of July.

"Oh, Sam." Melissa stroked my head and wiped my tears off my face. After that, I started spilling out my heart. I just sat there, telling these girls every detail of my shit-filled life. When I finished, there was silence. Not bad silence, good silence. And I felt like I lost weight or something. I felt better then I had in a real long time.

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**Ok then, there's chapter 4. I won't be able to post chapter 5 till next weekend, I've got school. (groan) Sorry it's kinda short. See ya. **


	5. The journal

**Gosh, sorry it took me so long to update, I've been busy. So anyway, many thanks to my reviewers! I feel special! Ok then, on with the story! **

**Disclaimer: I don't (unfortunately) own the outsiders. But (mwahahah!) I own the McMillans, Janie, Melissa. Neat! I own people… **

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I spent the night with Janie and Melissa. Not like my family cared anyway.

"When do you wanna go get your stuff?" Melissa asked me. "You have to go to school tomorrow."

Shit, school. I almost forgot. At least Ponyboy goes to my school, so I won't be a complete loner. Maybe I'll meet somebody new.

"I'll go by today. I talked to Pony last night, and he said that Soda and Mac were gonna go out today. I might as well go when Mac's not home." I sat up in the guest room bed. Their apartment was almost 4 times as big as my house. So they had an extra guest room I could have for now.

"All right. Well, me and Janie gotta go to the library today to study for a test we have tomorrow. Kay? We're gonna leave in about an hour." Melissa left the room and headed toward the kitchen. Moments later, a waft of bacon and eggs reached my nose. My stomach ached with hunger. I haven't eaten in over a day! Throwing the covers off me, I started to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair. Ok, never mind. I don't have a brush with me.

"Mel? You gotta brush I can use?" I hollered over my shoulder to the direction that I thought the kitchen was in.

"Yeah! Check the bottom drawer under the second sink!"

I bent over and pulled open the drawer. Damn! The drawer was filled with hundreds of hair ties, ribbons, brushes and hairsprays. Geez, I wonder what's in the other drawers. Out of curiosity, I yanked open the remaining 5 drawers and found that they were all filled to the brim with cosmetics, hair accessories and jewelry. My god. Are they rich?

"Sam? Breakfast is ready!" Someone tapped on the closed bathroom door.

"Oh, uh, all right! I'll be out in a minute." I hastily shut all the drawers and pushed a sparkly pink brush through my hair.

"How do ya like yer eggs done, Sam?" Janie asked me the moment I walked in the kitchen.

"Ooh, scrambled with a bit of cheese, please." I answered while sitting down at the square table.

"That rhymed!" Melissa seemed positively overjoyed at this statement.

"Here ya go. Enjoy." Janie set a steaming plate of eggs and a few strips of bacon in front of me. When I was halfway done, Melissa and Janie hurried past me, both looking very nice. Melissa was wearing a pretty pink shirt with a jean skirt and as usual, matching ribbons, hair ties and earrings. Janie put on a flowered dress and heels. Both were swinging schoolbags from their arms.

"We've gotta go now, Sam. We'll be home later, all right?" Melissa pulled out a wallet from her bag and handed me a dime. "You can buy a candy or something if you like." It was then that I came to the conclusion that either Melissa or Janie was filthy rich. That's pretty weird, seeing as they're Greasers. Then again, they don't really dress like Greasers. Or act like Greasers. Boy, maybe they're not Greasers or Socs. That's pretty tuff, being able to look decent and to have nice things. I wish I had that.

"See ya later." I murmured to them as they strode out the door. Well, I guess I better go get my stuff now. It's about 9... Wonder if Mac's gone yet... Probably not. I spent the morning exploring the apartment. There were 4 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms and a nice sized kitchen and living room. Every room was chock-filled with nice furniture and matching décor.

Melissa sure likes matching things. Her room was all matching, all polka dotted. It's cute. I pushed open the door to her bathroom and found a room of red. Everything was red in her bathroom. How does she have the time to decorate the house like this? Janie was a little plainer. Her room was crisp and white. Most of the furniture was made of dark, polished wood. Her bed covers were white, along with her dresser and her carpet. How did she keep it so clean and tidy? I can barely keep my room clean for more then a couple hours. I decided then to get my stuff.

An ominous feeling swam over me as I opened my front door.

"Hello?" In my imagination, my voice echoed around the teeny house. No one answered, so I figured Mac was out, and Trinny was drinking somewhere. I walked into the kitchen, and was immediately surprised. It was a mess. Food and crap littered the floor and my cupboard had the door hanging by a hinge. My first thought was a break-in; but who would break in to our shit filled house? I stepped cautiously over my blanket that had been thrown over a puddle of spilled milk. I realized that all the stuff all over the floor were my stuff! All my candles were broken, the wicks torn out and the bases cracked in fourths. Bob laid over in the corner, one of his eyes ripped out and stuffing emitting from his left arm. I cradled him in my arm and dropped him in a garbage bag I had brought to carry my stuff in. I silently picked my way through all my stuff, picking up what I wanted and dropping it in my bag. Most of it was broken. Inside my cupboard, there was my journal, ripped in half. Torn papers cluttered the single shelf and I picked them up and read them carefully. One of the ripped pages dating back from 5/29/63 read this:

_**tes 5/29/63**_

**_ lieve it! Danny Fisher said he thought I was pretty! Wow I _**

_** n't wait until Connie hears about that! And she thought **_

**_ e liked her! I wonder what she'll do to me? Oh, no... I can_**

**_sk Ayla, she'll know what to do... And then I can tell Dad abou_**

The corner was ripped off and so was the bottom half of the paper. Tears filled my eyes as I read it. My life had been so simple then; my only worries were about Connie and Danny and all those people. That was before Trinny started drinking. She was still not my mom, but she wasn't a drunk. I sat in front of my cupboard, slamming the door into my knee. Feeling the pain, enjoying the pain. Here I sit, the pained little 15 year old girl, who's only comfort is coming from the hurt in her knee. How did I become like this? Just a few hours ago, I was with people who actually seemed to like me, and now I just felt numb. Like since my dad died, I don't matter anymore. I was surprised at how much damage that one paragraph from my journal caused me. Why does it affect me like this? Instead of reading the rest of the torn pages, I stuffed them all in the bag and slipped out the door. On my way out, I glanced at the Curtis house. Pony was sitting in his bedroom window, he saw me and waved. My arms felt like lead, so all I did was produce a forced smile and walk away. I knew he was probably confused. Wondering why I was walking away from my house with a full garbage bag; but I didn't care. I didn't really explain to him why I was at Janie's apartment yesterday when I called.

I kicked a rock along the sidewalk to entertain myself on the walk back. I challenged myself to kick the rock 20 times without losing it. I only lasted to 11 before I heard someone coming behind me.

"Sam? What's wrong?" Pony had apparently come out when I turned around.

"I'm moving in with Janie and Melissa." Was my dull answer. Right now, I don't feel like talking to anyone, except maybe Dad. But I can't do that now can I?

"Oh." He seemed disappointed.

"Yeah. Well, you don't wanna walk all the way back to Janie's with me, do ya?" I was hoping he'd say no. Why did I ask then?

"'Course I do! They have the fanciest apartment ever. Janie's dad owns a bunch of companies and Melissa's parents own a couple of hotels." He looked curiously down at my bag and asked, "What's with all the paper?"

I frowned and answered, "Nothing. Pony, I just remembered, Janie told me that I had to stay in today! I'm sorry but ya can't come over. Bye." I attempted an upset expression and hugged him lightly.

"Oh, ok. See ya."

He turned and walked slowly back to his house. What's wrong with me? All I did was go to my house to get my stuff, and now I'm all depressed. All I did was read that stupid note. What was in it that tormented me so much? Nevertheless, I have to forget about it and become my old self again. What's some paper to a happy life living in an apartment with nice people? I repeatedly told myself this, and eventually I believed it. Now, I just have to get through school tomorrow. That night in bed, I knew, no matter what I told myself, that I hadn't forgotten about that entry in my journal, and I probably never will. I don't think I'll ever even understand what it means to me.

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**Yeah. Ok. So uhh this was a really confusing chapter, but it makes sense eventually. Next chapter will be up next weekend, hopefully. It depends what I'm doing. **


	6. There's a first for everything

'**Ello, welcome to chapter 6. I want to thank all my lovely reviewers, once again, I feel special when people review. Also thanks to a couple of people who put me on their favorite stories list. So, yea…**

**Disc: Unfortunately, I don't own the outsiders.. No matter how much I pretend to….**

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The next morning, I woke up feeling sick. I can always tell if I'm gonna have a good day, or a bad day, and I knew, that this was gonna be a bad day.

"Damn door." I murmured as I slammed my head into it. In the mornings, I'm not very coordinated. I padded across the hall in my socks and pajamas and used the bathroom. When I finished, I sat up and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Does Pony like me? If he does, why? I poked at a zit forming above my left eyebrow. My hair was tangled and collected over my shoulder in a heap.

"Ow!" I was trying to work the tangles through my hair with my brush. Janie, thinking I was hurt, trotted in.

"Sam? You ok?" She fingered her blue blouse and looked at me curiously. Since I came home yesterday, and I wouldn't tell Janie or Melissa what was wrong, they were watching me real close.

"Just brushing my hair." I stabbed the bristles into a fresh section of my hair. "I'm fine."

"Allrighty then. Soda'll be by in about 30 minut's time kay?"

Janie left the bathroom and left me to finish taming my hair. Why can't I have normal hair? Well, I did the best I could. I slowly gazed at what the mirror showed me. A small girl, with absolutely no shape and no nails. Boy, I'm ugly. I wish I looked like a movie star. Like Soda. At that moment, Melissa strode in to grab a ribbon for her neck and hair.

"Hmm, should I wear yellow today? Or purple?" She murmured to herself. I almost answered until it occurred to me that she didn't know I was there. I pushed myself onto the counter and watched Melissa apply some makeup and tie a yellow ribbon around her neck.

"Oh!" She jumped and smeared a black stain across her cheek with the mascara she was holding. "I didn't see you there, Sam!" Melissa grabbed a towel and gently sponged off her cheek.

"Sorry."

"How ya feeling?" She sat beside me and picked up the abandoned brush and skimmed it through my hair.

"Sick." I moaned and grabbed my stomach for dramatic effect. I knew she wouldn't believe me, but it was worth a shot anyway.

"No you're not. Don't worry; you'll have Pony with you today." She patted my hand and walked out, leaving me alone on the toilet.

I got dressed and ate a slow breakfast, or at least, I tried to. Every bite of waffle seemed to weigh down my tongue. Melissa and Janie had waffles for breakfast everyday. They have a whole freezer full. They left about 10 minutes ago. I glanced at the clock. 7:38. Ok, they left 5 minutes ago, but it seemed like 10. Soda was coming at 7:45 to get me. I wonder why he didn't pick up Melissa and Janie too… A while later, I heard a horn honk loudly outside. Soda's here.

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Bunker Hill High school was huge. Windows covered every floor of the building, and I saw a glimpse of a pool in the back. I sat in front of the school with Ponyboy, counting the floors. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 5 floors. Geez.

"Sam? You gotta get your schedule." Pony stood up. "I've already got mine." I nodded and let him pull me up.

"Listen, you're gonna be all right. Don't worry." He put his hand on mine and led me into the school. Once I got in, I didn't feel so bad.

"Holy sh-crap." I didn't think I should cuss so much at school. The inside was real nice; plants and pictures everywhere. Pony chuckled and took me to the principles office. There I met my principal, or should I say my worst nightmare.

"Hello there, little girl. How are you today?" The man said annoyingly. His name was Mr. Shoe. Mr. Jim Shoe. I stifled a laugh as he told me his name. Jim Shoe!

"I'm very fine. And how are you today Mr. Shoe?" I answered in the same high pitched tone. He had the air of someone who really didn't want to be there.

"What a polite little girl. And how are you today Mr. Curtis?" He patted Pony's shoulder and asked him.

"I'm ok." Pony mumbled.

"Oh Mr. Curtis! We need to work on your manners! When you're with a lady, you are-?" Obviously, he expected Pony to finish.

"NPF, neat polite and funny, Mr. Shoe." Pony turned red.

"Yes, siree. Now Mr. Curtis, kindly take Ms. McMillan to her first class, seeing as she shares it with you." He waved goodbye and winked at me.

"I'm so sorry. Our principal is a real weirdo. So you have Algebra first? Good, me too." Pony brought me down a bunch of halls and through some doors until we reached a room with a label that said Algebra 1.

Ponyboy pushed open the door cautiously and said, "Late: Bringing the new girl to her classroom. Orders by Mr. Shoe."

"Enter." An elderly man's voice said. I followed Pony in and looked around. Oh, crap. Every other person in here was a Soc. What the hell is going on? I finally realized why everyone looked nicer then me, they were all Socs. Great.

"But, who are you?" The math teacher had on a black suit and his hair was white and neatly combed back. The little wooden block on his desk said that his name was Mr. Hackle.

"Oh, excuse me, I'm Samantha McMillan. I moved in not to long ago."

"What? Excuse me? I didn't quite hear what you said." Mr. Hackle stood up and walked toward me.

"Oh no." Pony whispered under his breath.

"Um, I'm Sam McMillan. I moved in-." But I was interrupted by Mr. Hackle.

"Are you now? MR. CURTIS!"

"Yessir?" Pony asked timidly.

"Kindly explain to Ms. McMillan what we do around here." He sat back down at his desk. "Then," he added to me. "I want to see you after class."

Ponyboy gave me a hurried explanation of Mr. Hackle's class. He was an old war general, and you had to state everything to him as if he still was. What a weird old guy.

Math was pretty easy, but all the Socs kept giving me dirty looks. It went like this for every class I was in. Pony was only in my History and Math class. History was last period. I met up with Pony like we planned and strode in. I endured the lectures and all the stares until the end of class.

"Boy Pony, is this an all Soc school?" I asked him once we left and were walking outside of the building. I noticed that a lot of girls were eyeing Pony and throwing me evil looks.

"Yeah, pretty much. I've been here alone for a while, and it's not very fun when you're alone." He walked me to Janie and Melissa's apartment and we just stood there, him holding my knapsack and books.

"Well, bye." I took my bag and books from him and smiled.

"Yeah, bye." We stood there awkwardly together for a minute or so. I knew what should happen now, but it wasn't working. I realized I had to make the first move, Pony was too shy. I grabbed his hands and held them in mine. Then I laughed and said, "Screw this." I took my hands away from his and wrapped them around his waist. I felt his around mine and I moved in. We stood there for about 5 minutes, until we saw a flash of light from the door.

"That's gonna be a keeper!" Melissa was holding a small camera and smiling broadly.

"Melissa! You can't do that!" I laughed and playfully smacked her in the arm. Pony looked thoroughly embarrassed and just grinned.

"Aw, Melissa…" He said, his ears turning crimson. "I gotta go anyway. See ya tomorrow." And he marched away toward his house.

"You butt!" I yelled at Melissa when we got inside. "We were having a moment!"

She laughed and said, "You were there forever! I had to get you guys apart somehow."

"Where's Janie?" I asked.

"Oh, with some guy. I'm not sure who. I stopped by the DX today to see Soda." She grinned maliciously and finished with, "We're going out on Saturday."

"Have fun." I was too happy to really take in what she was saying. So my day was crap, but it had a good ending.

"So tell me Sam, how was your day?" Melissa asked while munching down on a bowl of ice cream. I told her everything that happened.

"I had Mr. Hackle for Math when I was a sophomore. Good luck. And watch out for Mr. Shoe. He tried to get with Janie, and she never reported him." Melissa looked at me sternly. "Don't get on his bad side. Seriously." I just shook my head and replayed my kiss. Nothing Melissa said was registering in my brain. I just couldn't wait to see Pony again the next day.

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**  
Mwahaha! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know I did… So review, give me ideas! Bye bye.. **


	7. Cemetaries and sex

**Hi there! I don't have school today so I just figured I should update! By the way, I think everyone should know that I am my own main character… It's basically me except for the whole drunk mom dead dad part, that's all Sam. **

**Disc: Once again (this is very stupid) I don't own the Outsiders. (Actually I own Ponyboy; he just doesn't know it yet) -Evil laugh here- **

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The rest of the week went by in a blur. I was yelled at a lot and harassed a lot. I did remember what Melissa told me about Mr. Shoe, and I noticed him looking at a lot of girls in ways that principals shouldn't. Heck, one thing that I was very surprised about was that I hadn't been jumped yet. All the Socy girls had given me real nasty looks, particularly because all their boyfriends had been giving me a second glance, which was a surprise for me. I didn't see Mac at all at school. I haven't seen him since I left.

Ponyboy didn't come to school for the rest of the week. I'm not sure why, and I was always laden with homework every night so I couldn't call him or go to his house. My damn Language Arts teacher, Ms. Parnes, always gave us the most stupid worksheets every freakin' day. Mr. Hackle also gave us about a million math problems to do each night, and since I suck at math, they took me a while. Melissa usually helped me with math though, cuz she was real good at it. That's what we were doing, homework.

"Sam, come on! It's not that difficult. Ok X over W equals 4.89. Why?" Melissa was getting frustrated with my lack of work. What can I say? Math is torture.

"Uhh…… Because…" I stalled, hoping she wouldn't yell anymore.

"When's this crap due anyhow?" Melissa asked me when she saw that I wasn't gonna answer her question.

"Monday." It was Friday night, finally. Janie was in the bathroom taking a shower and getting ready for a date. Janie dates a lot, and with all different guys. She told me once that she never goes out with the same guy twice.

"Then," She had said. "they think yer committed to them, and I don't wanna be tied down like sum kinda animal!"

Melissa groaned and mumbled something about getting to it on Sunday.

"Oooh!" She stood up and twirled around like a ballerina. "Me and Soda are goin' out tomorrow. And he said it was gonna be real special!" Her face glowed with excitement.

"Yippee for you." I was a bit cross that I hadn't talked to Pony in so long...

"You know what Soda said? Tomorrow the gangs gonna go out to the cemetery to visit some graves." I wanted to say 'fascinating'. But I didn't. "Aaaand, Pony wants you to come." She finished with a satisfied smile.

"Really? Where's he been all this time?" I fidgeted with my shoe I was holding in my hand. I was writing the word Bob all over it. I have adopted the name Bob for Ponyboy, that way he wouldn't be weirded out if he saw my shoes or if I was talking about him when he was around or something.

"Sick, apparently." She sat up suddenly as if she just remembered something important. "I just remembered! I haven't decided what to wear!" She sprinted to her room and I could just imagine clothing flying everywhere in there. So he was sick? Hmm… Boy I'm tired. I looked at the clock which read 11:32 p.m. Gosh, I better go to sleep if Pony wants me to go somewhere with him tomorrow. I stumbled across the hall and was hit in the head with a flying shoe.

"Ow." I rubbed my head and fell into my room.

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The next morning I woke up at 7:10. Although I fell asleep late, I still always wake up early. There was no noise at all, so I figured Melissa and Janie were still asleep. I crossed the hall in my socks, feeling the soft cushion of the carpet under me and reached the kitchen.

"What to eat, what to eat?" I murmured to myself as I opened cupboards and looked at shelves. Waffles, waffles or waffles? Ooh, or ice cream. This is a hard decision, but I'll go with the ice cream. I often staged my life as a game show in my own head.

I grabbed a spoon and ate the ice cream from the container. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I retired to the comfy couch in the living room before immediately springing up again.

"Ponyboy! You scared me! What're you doing here?" I had sat on him.

"Waiting for you to get up. What else?" He had a crooked grin on his face.

"How long have you been here?" I demanded.

"Not long, but I knew you got up early." He looked at me and laughed. "Is that what you're gonna wear today?" Pony pointed at my soft pajama bottoms that were handed down from Janie.

"No. When are we leaving?" I needed some time to get ready, I looked like crap.

"In an hour or so." An hour. That gave me some time.

"Wait here." I ran to Janie's room and grabbed some jeans of hers I admired, shoving my pale legs in them as I hopped to Melissa's room to borrow one of her shirts. I skimmed my finger over her selection and chose a pretty black tank top and pulled it on. Taking her brush, I ran it through my hair and scooted off to the bathroom. I tried to apply some lipstick, but it only came out ugly. There, now I look a little more presentable.

"You look nice." Pony did too. He was wearing some jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. I scribbled a note about where I was and taped it to the fridge.

"Ok, let's go."

We walked the mile or so back to the Curtis's house and on the way he told me about his sickness this week.

"Darry said it was the flu. I really wanted to go to school." He put a lot of emphasis on really.

"I was lonely, and I kept thinking that maybe you didn't want to come because of, uhh.. You know." I'm not usually embarrassed and it was bugging me that I couldn't say it.

"No! Of course not. That was, uh, great." Well at least we both knew what we were talking about. We were about a block away from his house and we both wanted to do the same thing, At least, I did, and I'm pretty sure he did. I figured Pony should make the first move, since I did it last time. But will he? Is he too shy?

"Pony, where're we gonna go?" I stopped and faced him to give us another chance.

"To the cemetery. We're gonna go visit Johnny and Dally's grave." I knew what he was talking about because he told me at school.

"Oh. All right." Unfortunately, he kept walking. God damn it. He's pretty clueless. I sighed as I realized he would not make the first move.

"Ponyboy Curtis! You get your bottom back here!" I yelled at his retreating back. He turned around with a smile on his face and crunched across the gravel toward me.

Feeling a rush of excitement, I grabbed him and we kissed very softly at first, then it grew more passionate with the passing seconds.

We arrived at the Curtis home minutes later, both with huge smiles.

"Lookie here! I was watching these lovebirds from the window!" Soda laughed as soon as we entered. My cheeks burned and Pony looked down.

"I wouldn't be talking Mr. Saturday's gonna be real special, Melissa." I retorted.

Pony laughed as Darry came in. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." We both said at the same time.

"I'm gonna let you know right now that there's gonna be no making out in my truck!" Darry said, grinning.

"Aw, Darry, shut up." Ponyboy's face was completely red.

We soon all gathered in the truck, Two-Bit, Soda, Darry, Me, Pony and Soda's best buddy, Steve Randle. Soda mimed kissing himself in the passenger seat. Ponyboy was obviously teased quite often.

"We all know what you do with Melissa, Soda." I said. Soda just laughed and turned up the radio.

When we arrived at the cemetery, everyone piled out and rushed toward the way back of it.

"They buried Johnny and Dal together. Way back there." Ponyboy mumbled to me. I felt so sad for him, he had told me that Johnny was his best buddy in the gang. Surprisingly, I felt his hand enter mine. Soda walked by us, and smiled broadly.

Johnny and Dally's tombstones were both just rocks mentioning their names and birthdates. We all sat there, holding flowers and Darry started talking. We must've sat there for 20 minutes listening to him talk. Maybe I would've found it more comfortable if I had known them.

"Excuse me?" A small, timid voice asked from behind us. "Is that Johnny Cade's grave?"

I whipped around and saw a small, dark, lady with big black eyes and long, straight hair. I saw almost everyone's jaw clench as they looked at this little woman. Who was she?

"What are you doin' here?" Two-Bit asked, his hand in his back pocket, rubbing his switch.

"I, uh, came to see the grave." Her lower lip trembled slightly. "He was my son, you know."

"Not like you gave a damn about him!" Pony exclaimed. Oh, this was Johnny's mother.

"Maybe I didn't act like it, but I did!" Her eyes welled with tears and she gulped.

"It's time to go." Darry said, a determined set to him. The rest of the gang except for Pony and me followed him. We just sat there, his arm around my waist.

"Explain to me how you ever cared about Johnnycake!" Pony asked her.

"Johnny.. He was a good boy… His father," She shivered at the thought and continued. "his father, was not a good man. We fought like crazy. Everyday. He would abuse me and Johnny together. He would threaten us and run Johnny out of the house. I took all my feelings out on Johnny. I guess I was just afraid to love. Now that he's gone, I.. I…" She faltered and just stared at us.

"You never know what you have until it's gone." I said. I knew what it was like to have an inattentive mother, but I knew Trinny wouldn't care about me if I died. She nodded solemnly and tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I knew that I didn't have to love him to keep him alive. So I just took all my anger out on him. All the time. Now, I just feel bad." She stared down at her brown shoes.

"You never really cared about him. Now that he's dead, you just feel bad that you were never nice! You don't really care!" Pony stomped off and left me with Mrs. Cade. I figured she would want to be alone, so I just gave her an awkward wave and chased after Pony.

"Pony! God! Wait up! I'm not a runner!" It's true, I can't run for my life. He gradually slowed down and ended up beside me.

"Damn little broad." He murmured more to himself then to me. We walked all the way back to my house and we didn't arrive until about 5 in the evening. Pony was still fuming, but he had calmed down enough to ask me to the movies that night.

"Sure. Melissa's goin' with Soda and Janie's goin' with Two-Bit I think…" I ran inside and found Melissa and Janie together, both wearing pretty skirts and tops.

"I need something to wear." I told them both.

"Ooh, I just bought the cutest outfit for you today!" Janie squealed as she pulled out a pretty black skirt and a white shirt.

"Thanks." I pulled it on and hastily told them what happened at the cemetery.

"Wow. Mrs. Cade?" Janie was dumbfounded.

"Yep." I said as I met Pony outside. "I'm ready."

We piled into Janie's car and drove off to the movies. Soda and Two-Bit said they'd meet us there. When we got there, me and Pony ran off to a section of the theater where no one sat. From there, I watched as Soda pulled Melissa off to the seats we were at. Except, they went under the rows of seats. I'm pretty sure they don't know we're here. Pony and me just gave each other knowing glances and stifled laughs.

If I turned around in my seat, there was a gap where I could see what was going on under me. Pony and me both turned around after we heard a groan and some giggling from down under.

Under us, Melissa and Soda were rolling around in the grass. In the corner, I saw Soda's discarded shirt and Melissa's. They were kissing fiercely and Melissa was running her fingers through Sodapop's hair.

"Don't get any ideas." I laughed at Pony.

Sodapop was now removing Melissa's skirt and his own jeans. This I don't need to see. I turned my attention back to the movie and watched for a few minutes until a loud "OH!" was heard from under us. People stared in my direction, thinking it was me and Pony. We both sat low in our seats, trying to block us from view. I didn't pay attention to the movie much, I was mostly thinking of Johnny's mom. I wonder if Trinny would ever do that. Pony mentioned that Mrs. Cade was a drunk, and so was Trinny! My thoughts were interrupted by another load groan, this time in a male's voice. Me and Pony had to look down again.

Both of them were covered in bits of grass and Melissa's hair was loose around her face. They looked as if they were glued together by the hips and lips. Oh god. I turned around again as Melissa moved downward on Soda's body. Neither of them was wearing any underclothes.

Pony snaked his arm around my waist and I leaned my head on his shoulder. The rest of the movie went by unnoticed. Mostly because it was kind of distracting knowing that people below you were uh, you know.

By the end of the movie, I was disappointed. We hadn't kissed at all! I heard Soda whisper from below, "The movie's over. We better go."

Pony turned to me and kissed me full on the mouth. We stayed there for a really long time. Long after Melissa and Soda left. By the time Pony was walking me home, I was very, very glad I had moved to Tulsa.

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**All righty then. This was a long chapter for me. I'm proud of myself. I know this was kind of an odd chapter, but I liked it, obviously. The whole Mr. Shoe thing, I just thought it was cool. Jim Shoe. So yeah, review!**


	8. What's wrong with Melissa?

**Hi! So thankies to all my reviewers! I adore getting reviews... **

**Disc: I OWN ALL THE OUTSIDERS! MWAHAHA... Oh wait a minute, I don't. Darn you happy thoughts! (Inside joke)**

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The rest of the weekend, Melissa acted strange. You'd expect her to act all happy, on account of she just, uhh... you know, withSoda; but she seemed depressed. She moped around the house, ignoring us and cleaning everything she could. That really surprised me, because Melissa hates cleaning.

"Mel? You all right?" Janie, me and Melissa were sitting in the kitchen. I was attempting my homework while Melissa stared at her cup of tea.

"I'm ok." She sighed quietly and continued her concentrated gaze at the cup.

"Umm... Janie? Do you get math?" I was still so confused and it didn't help that Melissa wouldn't help me. This was the only time we had gotten her to talk all day.

"No. I'm still in Algebra at my school." Geez, Janie's 17 and in algebra? I'm 15 and in Geometry.That's normal right?

"Urgh." For the rest of the night I struggled through my homework and thought about Ponyboy. I really like him. More then I've ever liked any other boy, and let me tell you, I've liked boys all right.

"Mel? Time for bed. You too munchkin." Janie took up Melissa's tea and put my math book in my bag. I was so exhausted.

"Mmm." I nodded slowly and crossed the hall into my room. I did not have a good sleep that night. I kept thinking of Melissa and wondering why she's so depressed.

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I woke up earlier then usual, Monday morning. I shoved the covers off of me and reached under the covers to retrieve my socks. They always fall off in the middle of the night. The reason I woke up so early was presented when I walked out. Melissa was sitting on the couch in the living room, clutching the phone in her hands and sobbing to herself.

"Melissa?" I quietly asked her as I walked slowly over to her. She was still wearing the same clothes she was wearing yesterday. Did she ever go to bed?

"What? Oh, hi." She looked kind of lost, like as if she just woke up.

"What are you doing" I sat down next to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"What was that? Did the phone ring?" She looked at the phone expectantly and her face brightened. She stared at the phone and didn't change her gaze. "Oh I, uh, guess I was just hearing things." She giggled nervously and laid the phone carefully on her lap.

"Are you going to school today? I can stay home with you if you want." I told her carefully.

"Oh. Yeah, that would be good." She mumbled something that sounded like, 'dropout' and 'didn't call'.

Suddenly, she burst into a heavy flow of tears. I looked at her, shocked, and patted her back.

"Mel? What's wrong? Come on, tell me!" I probed her.

"Promise," she sniffled. "you won't tell Janie?"

"Of course."

"Well, uh, at the movies on Saturday, umm…" She cut off and a new flood of tears spilled out. "Me and Soda weren't really watching the movie, we, uhh…" I knew what she was trying to say, so I helped her finish.

"Don't worry. I know about that, you were right under me and Pony." I smiled gently and motioned for her to continue.

"You were-, oh god. Well anyway, I went to the doctor yesterday cause Soda didn't have any protection and I wondered if I, if I…" She broke off and dropped her head to her knees. Oh shit.

"And, what did the doc say?" I spoke slowly and softly. I feel like I'm talking to a 1st grader.

"He said, he said, he, uh, said… That I was pregnant." She finished with a fresh batch of sobs.

"Oh, Melissa! What about school?" She was an 'A' student and had a very good possibility of going to college.

"I have to drop out." She mumbled into her knees. "And when I told Soda yesterday morning, he just hung up and said he'd call me later. He hasn't."

So that's why she was clutching the phone like it was her life. "But, he can't be mad, can he?" I asked.

"I don't think he's mad, I think that he's just mad at what Darry'll think." Her head dropped even lower.

"Oh. I see." I glanced at the clock and read 6:12. That's not late enough to call Pony. I want him to miss school with me and help me. Also, we need to talk to Soda.

"Wanna call Pony?" She handed me the phone and I grabbed it delicately, holding it between two fingers. It was soaking wet. I took it into the bathroom and dried it gingerly with a towel. I punched in Pony's number and listened to the steady ring.

1…2…3…4

"Hello?" A slow, slurred voice answered.

"Hey Two-bit. Pony up yet?"

"Um. No. Ya wanme to go getim?" he was obviously drunk.

"Yeah."

I waited about 5 minutes before I hung up again. I figured that Two-Bit passed out on the way or something. I redialed and listened to the ring again.

"Hello? Ha ha, Hello. That's a funny word." It was Steve, who was also drunk, I could tell.

"Steve? Can you go get Ponyboy for me? This is Sam."

"Ooh, Sam! Pony's been talking about ya all night. Are you guys gonna get married anytime soon?" He laughed and I heard someone say in the background, "Gimme the phone Steve." It was Pony.

"Pony?" I asked, hoping it was him.

"Mmhmm." He sounded like he was still asleep.

"Can you come over today? Melissa's in a real state."

"Whadda bout school?" I heard someone scream with laughter in the background.

"Can you miss today? Seriously I need your help." I fingered the towel that I hung on the counter.

"Mm. See ya." He hung up and I hurried back to Melissa, who was now joined by Janie.

"Come on Melissa! Tell me what's wrong!" Janie was yelling at her.

"Nothing!" She shot me a nasty look, as though daring me to say something.

"Ohhh." I moaned and put on a sick face. "Janie, I don't feel good. I'm gonna stay home today. Melissa, why don't you stay home with me?"

"Yeah. I will." Melissa answered before Janie could say anything.

"Ugh!" Janie threw up her hands in surrender and strode outside before I could tell her it was only 6:45.

"Thanks Sam." Melissa stood up and turned to me. "I heard you talking in the bathroom."

"Oh. Yeah." I stared out the window. When was Pony coming?

Pony didn't come until 7:58. By the time he arrived, Melissa was lying on the couch with a cool cloth on her forehead and I was sitting next to her, stroking her head.

The door opened quietly. "Sam? Mel?"

"In here, Pony." He walked in the living room, carrying his school work.

"Hey. Hi Melissa. What's going on?" He looked at her blank face confusedly.

"I'll fill ya in." I led him in my room and told him everything. "What are we gonna do?"

"Well, I guess the first thing we should do is get Soda over here." Pony said. I gave him the phone and said, "Get him over here now."

In a while, Soda showed up.

"Honey. You ok?" He ran over to Melissa and softly kissed her on the lips.

"No. Soda I'm pregnant!" She wailed.

"I know, and that's ok. I wonder if it'll be a boy or a girl." Soda held Melissa's hands in his and gazed at her.

"Uhh, we'll be going now." I nodded at Pony and we walked out the door.

"Geez. Poor Melissa." Pony said as we walked nowhere in particular.

"I know." We sat on a bench and looked at each other.

I just realized how tired I was. I had about 3 hours of sleep last night.

"Pony, I'm real tired." I lie down on the bench and put my head in Pony's lap. Soon, I was asleep.

I woke up in Pony's bedroom, feeling groggy.

"Hey sleepyhead!" Pony opened the door and jumped onto the bed.

"Ah! What time is it? What day is it?" How long had I been asleep?

"Don't worry. You've only been asleep for a few hours. We weren't very far from my house, so I just carried you back." Pony looked pleased with himself. Man, if only I had been awake.

"Oh. Okay... Uh, I better get home soon. Is Soda still with Melissa?"

"Yep. Do you wanta ride home?" Pony asked. "Cuz Darry's here."

"Sure." So I found myself sitting in the backseat of the truck with Pony. "Hey Darry." I said as he climbed in.

"Hi Sam. Why do you need a ride to your house? Don't you live next door?" Ooh. Awkward question.

"Oh, uh, I moved in with Janie and Melissa." I glanced at my house as we started moving and noticed Mac standing in the doorway, looking at me.

"Hey! HEY! SAM!" Mac yelled from the doorway.

"Keep driving Darry. Keep driving, please." I silently begged that Mac wouldn't chase after us. Unfortunately, he did. I watched him hop into our car and drive behind us. Oh no. Oh no. Oh shit.

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**So.. let's pretend that Melissa would've been able to find out if she was pregnant the next day ok? Chap 9 should be up by Sunday... Ok bye.**


	9. Mac

**Howdy. Oh I feel so special! I got like 8 reviews on chapter 8... That's fancy... Real sorry I couldn't get this up on Sunday like I promised, but my dad decided to paint our house and he took the computer down. I died without it, but luckily my friend Melissa reincarnated me by texting me a lot… **

**Disc: I don't own the Outsiders. Wait! checks mirror Am I Susie Hinton? Nope… So I don't own them… Poop... **

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I sat in the back, wringing my hands as I watched the dark green van speed behind us.

"Darry? Whatever you do, don't stop driving. And don't take me to Melissa and Janie's house... I don't want him to know where I live now." I was trying to sound calm, but I was biting my tongue in attempt to stop myself from screaming.

"Got it. Can't I just go kick his skinny little-?"

"NO!" I released my tongue. "DON'T STOP DRIVING!" My hands were shaking real bad. Darry was strong, real strong, but Mac was clever. And strong.

"SAM!" I heard him scream from behind us. "I JUST WANNA TALK TO YOU!"

I snorted and refrained from yelling back, YEAH RIGHT. He didn't talk, he punched, and that's not good.

"GOD DAMN IT SAM!" Oh shit. He ended up beside the beat up truck. I could hear the anger in his voice.

"Mac just leave me alone! I don't need you or Trinny to survive, in case you haven't noticed. I can live anywhere I want, and I don't want to live with you." I hollered out the window. Mac only grinned and said, softer then before, "We'll see about that."

"Okay that's it." Darry pulled over to the curb and wrenched his door open.

"Darry," I warned him, but he didn't seem to hear me.

"Hey! Sam is in a really bad position-" Darry began while flexing his huge muscles.

"I don't need your shit, big man." Mac came out of the car and strode over to me. "I need to talk to that little bitch behind you. That stupid little idiot."

"DO NOT," I burst from the truck. "CALL ME A BITCH!" Running over to him, I slammed into his chest and, surprisingly, knocked him backward.

"Sam! Get the hell off!" He squirmed under me as I repeatedly smacked him. I didn't realize I wasn't hitting anything until I opened my eyes and saw that Darry was holding me up by my collar. I didn't care. All I wanted to do was cause Mac as much pain as possible.

"Darry! Let me go!" I wriggled away from him and leaped back on Mac, who was rubbing his jaw.

"No, stop." Darry said, almost as if he found the entire thing humorous. Once again, I was lifted off my feet and set back down gently.

"Let me handle this." Darry said quietly.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Mac quickly picked himself off the ground and showed off what muscle he had. "I could've killed her to nothing."

"That's the point, dumbass." Darry circled him slowly, sizing him up. "And if I were you, I wouldn't be getting on my bad side."

Mac snorted. "And why not?"

"You'll see." Darry threw off his jacket and finished with, "Give me the first blow."

Mac grinned and wound up his fist. I closed my eyes, but decided against it and they flew open again. Mac threw a powerful punch to Darry's temple. Damn. If that was me, I would've been down in a second. If that was anyone else, come to think of it. But Darry just stood there and barely moved.

"And that's the best you've got?" Darry laughed quietly. "You think you're good? What were you planning on doing to Sam if I wasn't here, huh?" God, I don't even wanna know what he was gonna do to me.

"Nunya business, smarty." He was pulling his arm back for another shot. His punch erupted like as if it was on a spring and Darry caught it almost gracefully about an inch in front of his face.

"God, that's pretty sad. Now I don't wanta be the one to punch you, so I'm gonna make you punch yourself." Darry laughed and twisted Mac's arm around and gave him a hard blow to the cheek with his own fist. Mac yelped with pain and collapsed to his knees. Geez. That was only one punch!

"God damn!" Mac clutched his face and ran back to his car.

"Wait, wait, wait. We're not done yet." Darry chased after him and pulled him back. "We're not nearly done." He motioned for me to come closer. I cautiously walked toward him, my fists raised.

"Now, since Sam is my little brother's girlfriend, I'm gonna let her have some fun too." He pulled Mac over to me and waited. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to knock the shit out of him, but I didn't.

"I, uh, can't." I know I hit him a million times before, but that's when he could fight back. I couldn't stand the sight of him being held back and placed in front of me like a punching bag.

"And why not?" Darry demanded, shaking the piece of filth he was holding by the collar.

"I just can't. I may hate his stinkin' guts, but he's still my brother." The look in Mac's eyes softened momentarily, but hardened quickly.

"Just lemme go all right?" He mumbled. "I won't hurt her. I'll leave her alone." Darry shot him a look of hatred then threw him a couple feet.

"Just stay away from her, alright? Sam is a good kid, and you're not." He walked casually back to his truck and told me, "I've gotta go to work…"

In the car, it was pretty awkward. I couldn't figure out what to say.

"Thanks." I finally managed to choke out.

"No problem. Hey, Janie and Melissa are probably real worried about you."

Honestly, I'm more worried about Melissa and Soda. She was real freaked yesterday. But I didn't tell Darry this. I silently wished Pony was there so I could talk to someone. I never had much to do with Darry, whenever I went to see Pony he was at work, or sleeping.

"Uh, yeah. Did you hear about her and Soda?" I figured he must've right?

"What, like they're dating?" He chuckled. "Duh."

"No, I mean about uh, the baby." He stopped the car suddenly and looked at me, a determined set to his eyes.

"What?"

"Oh, Soda didn't tell you?" I was beginning to regret the fact that I brought it up. Soda probably didn't want to tell him. "Melissa's pregnant."

"She is, is she?" Darry got the car going again and didn't speak for the rest of the ride, but his jaw was clenched tightly the whole time.

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"SODAPOP CURTIS!" Darry yelled when he dropped me off at the apartment. I wanted to tell him not to yell, because it might startle Melissa, but I'm feeling pretty scared of him at the moment.

"Yeah?" Soda popped his head out of the house and smiled when he saw me. "Where've ya been, kiddo?"

"I could say the same about you!" Darry said. "Pony said you were at Steves!"

"Oh, well, about that…" Soda looked real uncomfortable. I could tell he wasn't yelled at much.

"And what is this Sam tells me? About a baby?" Darry was getting real angry, and I wanted to just dig a hole in the dirt and hide there.

"Sam?" Soda looked at me reproachfully and shook his head. "I was gonna tell you soon. I just had to spend some time with Mellie…"

"I don't wanna hear excuses. Now, you are coming home." It's pretty weird to hear a 17 year old being told to go home, like as if he was getting a time-out.

"No. I'm 18 years-"

"17." Darry interrupted.

"Almost 18 then and I can choose what I can do. My girlfriend is going to have a baby, and I think it's important that I stay with her at the present time." He twiddled his thumbs, so I could tell he was real nervous, even though he sounded confident.

"Soda? What's goin' on?" Janie walked out, holding a pot and a bottle. She was apparently cooking.

"Oh nothing. Me and Soda are just having a friendly argument between brothers." Darry said, smiling.

"Oh, Sam! Where've ya bin? We've bin real worried." Janie turned her attention to me and rushed over to hug me.

"Well, I just got tired and took a nap at the Curtis house." I answered calmly. Darry was starting to get a real big bruise on his cheek where Mac hit him.

Darry gave Soda a look that said clearly, We'll finish this later., and drove off without another word.

"Green or mint?" I could just register Melissa's voice from in the kitchen. She was asking me what kind of tea I wanted.

"Mint. Loads of sugar, kay?" I smiled. I'm so glad she's feeling better. Or, I hope she is. I wish Pony was here. Soda is walking around with his hands on Melissa's waist and Janie disappeared into the bedroom with Two-Bit. What am I supposed to do? Homework, great. Another reason Pony should be here.

"What's 88 percentof 450?" I screamed over my shoulder to Melissa. I could've figured it out, but I don't have a calculator

"396." Melissa hollered back from wherever she was.

"Thanks." I whispered so only I could hear. Maybe I should call Ponyboy… Maybe he won't mind coming over again. Even though this house is a bit far away. That's ok, right? I picked up the phone and punched in some numbers.

"'Ello?"

"Hey Pony. It's Sam."

"Oh, hey Sam! What's up? Darry's not back yet."

My throat tightened and I forced myself to say, "Well, he kinda found out about Melissa."

"How? Soda didn't tell him did he? That's the stupidest thing!" Pony seemed enraged.

"Uh, actually, I told him." Silence on the line. "I didn't mean to! Mac had caught up with us and Darry kicked his ass, and then it was just so awkward I didn't know what to talk about. It just slipped out."

"Oh, Sam." Was all he said.

"I'm real sorry."

"I guess it's ok. But anyway, why did you call?"

"Well, I don't understand my homework, and I need your help."

"I don't think I can help you over the phone."

"Can you come over, Pony?" I twisted the phones wires in my hand.

"Uh, no. I don't have a way over." His voice sounded hard and kind of angry.

"Pony? What's going on?" I heard yells in the background and Pony suddenly hung up. "Pony?" I hung the phone up slowly and returned to my homework. What was going on over there? He seemed really distracted, and I don't mean distracted as in homework distracted, I mean deeply distracted. If you know what I mean. So I reluctantly finished my homework- most likely it was all wrong- and went to bed, wondering what Pony was doing.

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**  
All righty then, there ya go, chapter 9 hot off the platter. Ok, he rest of this is going to my friend Melissa, but you can read and be confused if you want. **

**Ello, vats up? I enjoyed your little message you left me.. I am eating cheese right now. But I don't want to eat an eggplant. Yes I hate everything. I wonder if Jaylena is checking her butt right now… Ok see you later. **


	10. Pointed

**Hi there. I'm spending most of my day sitting on my butt at the computer because I'm extremely sore. Thank you all my reviewers… I would put names down, but I'm too lazy to… Well I can put a couple of people who really seem to like my story**

**123-.-HighOnLife-.-321****- Thank you! I can see you like my story… and uh, poor Matt?**

**Blackwiltedrose- Wow, that makes me feel special! **

**Sodapoplver- Hi Melissa! Thanks for reviewing my story so much! **

**Linwe-Amari- He says 'White trash with mustangs and madras!' –Spits at Bob-**

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The next day was Wednesday. Or Thursday. Or Friday. I'm not entirely sure. I don't usually pay attention to little things like what day it is when I'm confused, and I'm confused kinda a lot. Why had Pony just hung up on me? Is something wrong? I rubbed the sleep outta my eyes and sat up groggily.

"Oh, shit." I said to myself as I glanced at the clock. I may not know what day it is, but I know that it's a school day, and its 8:45 a.m. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" I mumbled as I yanked on a pair of pants and pondered how I would get to school. Why hadn't Janie woke me up? Melissa was probably still depressed in bed. I think Soda slept over, so she would have no reason to get up at all. Still, what about Janie? Maybe she's still here.

"Janie? JANIE?" I crossed the hall in my socks and peeked into her white room. "Janie?" I whispered while shaking the lump that was on her bed.

"Hmm? What're ya doin'?" Janie rolled over and saw my worried face. "What's up? Why aren't ya at school?"

"Uhh, maybe because I had no one to take me!" I stomped my foot angrily on the ground.

"Wha-? Melissa was s'pposed to take ya." Janie rubbed her head and wiped her face. "Oh, wait. Soda's here. Gosh, I almost forgot."

"Well, can someone take me to school? I need to see Pony real bad!" Ugh. Wait a minute, why isn't Janie at school? "Why aren't you at school?"

Janie looked at me and her face got angry. "I'm sick, alright?" Geez. Temper, temper. I ran into Melissa's room, but paused outside the door. What if her and Soda were, uh, doin' stuff? I decided to chance it and knocked loudly.

"Mel? C'mon Melissa! I gotta get to school." I hammered the door and finally just opened it. She was lying on her bed, alone.

"Oh, hi Sam. What's up? Did you know that the average person spends 3 years on a toilet?" She didn't get up, but only asked me "Why aren't you at school?"

"Hmm, I wonder why! _Someone_ was supposed to take me!" I ripped the covers off her.

"Who was that?" She looked sincerely confused.

"You!" I ran out her door and back to my room. It's not that I wanted to go to school; it's that I need to know what happened with Pony. I'll just walk to school. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

"Uh, sorry to disturb you, but, uh, how far is the school?" I had walked to Janie's room and shook her gently.

"'Bout 5 miles." She snored and rolled over. I don't know, but to me, she doesn't look very sick. 5 miles? It's already 9! I won't get there till 11 or so… Unless I run.

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**10:39 A.M**

I finally reached the school, breathing hard and looking like crap.

"Miss. McMillan! Why, pray tell, are you late?" Mr. Shoe looked down at me when I entered the school.

"Oh, um, my aunt just died, and I had to go to the funeral which started at 6:00 this morning." I invented wildly.

"Uh-huh. I'm sure. Now just get to class!" He pointed down the hall and I sprinted in that direction. I had a stitch in my chest by the time I reached my class. Mr. Hackle was reviewing finding the area of trapezoids.

"Then the square root of 3- oh, Miss. McMillan. So nice of you to join us. TAKE A SEAT!" Once again, I had a finger pointed to where I had to go.

"Yes, Sir! I was at a funeral, sir!" I hurriedly opened my book and flipped to the page we were on. My face fell as I glanced around the class. Pony wasn't there.

After class, I combed the school to look for Ponyboy.

"Hey Kelly? Have you seen Ponyboy?" I asked one of my friends from Biology.

"Uh, lemme think... Oh, yeah! I saw him walk out of the school about an hour ago with some chick." She replied, shaking her blond bangs out of her eyes.

"What? What girl? From our school?" My heart beat furiously.

"Uhh, no. She looked about 18 and I had never seen her before. Oh! Hide me! Here comes Two-Bit!" She hid behind a trash can and looked over expectedly. She had a major crush on Two-Bit, apparently, for a very long time.

"Hey, what's shakin' bacon?" He clapped his hand on my shoulder and saw my worried face. "What's goin' on? You all right? How's Janie?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm fine. So's Janie. Do you know where Pony went?" I popped my knuckles nervously. Two-Bit got a really scared expression on his face and said, unconvincingly,

"Uh, who?"

"PONYBOY? You know, that one Curtis kid?" I screamed impatiently.

"He left." He said then immediately changed the subject. "Hey Kelly! Fancy meetin' you here! Find anything interesting back there?"

Kelly stood up and smoothed her skirt down. "I had lost my dime. I found it though." Her face was blazing red. What am I doing? I need to find Pony. Screw school.

"I've gotta go find Pony!" I yelled over my shoulder as I ran off. "See ya." I stopped running about half-way to his house. I'm exhausted. When I finally reached his house, I stopped.

"Ponyboy Curtis! You get out here right now!" I screamed at the door. I heard rustling inside, and giggling. A girl giggling.

"Uh, hold on Sam." Soda opened the door a crack and he looked real stressed out. "We have some unexpected visitors." He turned his head and glared at someone inside.

"Who's here, Soda?" Some girl opened the door all the way and marched out. She was wearing a skirt that looked like it was painted on. Her shirt was cut way above her bellybutton and her platinum blond hair was let loose around her shoulders. What a slut.

"Who are you?" I asked her, trying not to scream.

"Uh, I'm Sandy. And what kinda shit are you?" She flipped her hair and smiled at Soda behind her.

"Excuse me, I'm Sam. And I am here to talk to that little cowering figure behind you." I pointed at Ponyboy who was crouching next to Soda.

"Hi Sam. What's wrong?" He asked, his voice shaking. "I see you've met Soda's uh, ex-girlfriend."

"Not ex! Current!" Sandy said, waving her manicured nails in my face. "He's left that dumb broad for me!"

"I have not! Sam, don't believe her! And don't tell Melissa about any of this!" Soda stood up and knocked 'Sandy' off her feet. Wait a second; is this the Sandy Pony told me about? The pretty girl with china-blue eyes? If it is, she really changed.

"And why are you so nervous, Pony?" I asked him accusingly. "What have you been doing with this- this…?"

"Sandy." She offered.

"Yeah." I finished. Pony shrugged and ran his fingers through his greasy hair.

"Nothin'. She just kinda showed up last night when I was talkin' to ya."

"Why does she trouble you so much?" Why don't they just get rid of her?

"Because! This is my ex-chick! And I've got a girlfriend who's pregnant! This little (not nice word) is ruining my life. And if Mel finds out…" Soda trailed off. I already knew what would happen. Melissa was already depressed or something. She didn't need this on top of everything. Obviously, they wanted this person gone. So, I helped out a bit.

"And, Sandy, did you know that Soda is engaged? With his pregnant fiancée?" I said slyly. Soda looked at me confusedly, and then his face broke out in a smile.

"Yep. The wedding is in June. We're honeymooning to, uh, Mexico. This is after the baby is born, obviously." He massaged his temples and tried to look stressed out. "So much to do, so little time." Good going.

"Yeah, so Sandy, you gotta get the hell outta here. You ain't gonna get Soda back." Pony shoved her down the steps and to a brown car sitting in the road. "Time to go. See ya later. Remember, don't write! Don't call! Don't visit!" Pony opened the door for her and pushed her in.

"Well, I'm not leaving. There's a Motel a mile down, and I'm staying in it! Don't believe I'm gone! Not for a second…" She drove off, looking murderous.

"So, that was odd." I filled in the awkward silence. I once read that that was the best thing to say when everyone was quiet.

"Sam, you better go home. Pony, walk her home." Soda pointed down the road. I am so sick of having people tell me where to go! If anyone else points me somewhere, I swear I'm gonna lose my mind. Me and Pony walked in silence for a couple minutes.

"I'm real sorry if I made it seem like I was two-timin' you or something. 'Cuz, I wasn't." Pony finally said, rubbing his head.

"It's alright. I guess." I mumbled. I felt his hand go around my waist and I felt a little better.

"Hey. Calm down, alright?" We stopped and sat down on the sidewalk. We were just 2 blocks from Melissa and Janie's house. "It's nothin'." He kissed me softly, and a chill went up my spine.

"Ok, I'm fine." I kissed him back, a little more passionately. He laughed and we kissed again. Eventually, we ended up rolling along the sidewalk, trying to avoid passerby who looked at us strangely. Hey, it's not everyday you see two teenagers making out on the sidewalk.

"I better get home." I said when some little boy walked by and stuck out his tongue.

"Ha, yeah." He stood up swiftly and I stayed on the ground. He laughed again and held out his hand to help me up. He pulled me up so fast, I almost knocked him down. We walked the rest of the way holding hands, and when we got there, no one was home.

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**Ha-ha, chapter 10. Ok, so I don't really know what to say right here except "Review Please!" I really liked typing this chapter. –Evil laugh-**


	11. Sandy

**Mwahaha! I am back... I missed 2 days of school, so I had TONS of homework.. That's why I didn't get to update 'till today. Soo…. Uhh… HI!**

**Disc: I don't own ze Outsiders. I vish I did, but I don't. (I'm trying out different accents. lol) **

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"Hello? Janie? Melissa?" I yelled around the empty house. "You guys here?"

"Uhh, I don't think they're here… But I'll see you later, Sam. Don't hurt yourself staying home all alone." Ponyboy laughed and walked up to me. We kissed softly and he left, slamming the door on his way out.

"Bye." I said to the door, knowing that he couldn't hear me. I sat down on the couch, feeling lonely. I reached for the remote and flipped on the TV.

"Grr… Nothing is on!" I dropped the remote and left it on the floor. I have absolutely nothing to do. Except homework, and who wants to do that? Now, where can they be? Well, Janie is most likely out with Two-Bit or some other guy I haven't met yet. But where's Melissa? Maybe she's with Soda…

"Fine, just leave me home all alone. Oh no, I'll be fine." I told myself angrily, pretending I was talking to Melissa or Janie. They knew I was coming home with Pony, and they left? I mean, we could've gone the whole damn way if we wanted to! Maybe something important came up. Hopefully that's it. I paced around the kitchen and at the same time asked myself what I wanted to eat.

"Hmm, what to eat? Peanut butter, crackers, apples, god where's all the junk food when you need it!" I dropped to the floor and checked the bottom cupboards. "Cheese, fruit, trail mix, oh gosh…" I have had junk food here before. I know I have… I bet Janie hid it! That's just the kinda thing she'd do! I checked all the other cupboards and drawers thoroughly and found nothing. Well, cheese is good. I cut myself some cheese and chewed it slowly, thinking. What's up with this Sandy person? What the hell did she mean when she said, "Don't believe I'm gone!"? And she's not too bright either. She's nothing like the Sandy Pony told me about: the one with soft blond hair and pretty blue eyes. Her blond hair looked dyed and her eyes just looked blue, not anything special to me. Maybe that's cuz I'm a girl.

"I'm bored!" I yelled to no one. Usually I don't get bored, I can entertain myself with just about anything. A couple of weeks ago, me and Melissa watched a clock move for an entire hour, counting the seconds between the minutes. Sometimes, I just read, or write poetry. It depends on what I'm feeling. I would be writing right now if SOMEBODY hadn't have ripped up my freakin' journal.

After I completed my cheese, I sat in my room, attempting to watch the clock. It's not much fun the 2nd time. I pulled open the drawer in the nightstand next to my bed and found a small notepad.

"Good enough." I picked up a pen and started to write a poem. I can only write poetry when I'm feeling an emotion real strong, like if I'm real mad or sad. Right now, I'm not sure why, but I'm really sad. Geez, I can't even write a freakin' poem. I crumpled up the beginnings of the poem and threw it away.

"I can't do anything today." I sighed and decided to call someone. Picking up my backpack, I reached in for a small piece of paper with 660-9301 written on it.

I dialed carefully and listened to the rings. After about 6 rings, someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Sam. Can I talk to Kelly?" I asked as politely as I could.

"Yes, hold on one moment." There was a pause, then I heard Kelly's voice. "Hello?"

"Hey Mrs. Two-Bit! What's goin' on?" I tried to sound cheerful and upbeat.

"Nothing much. I'm just playing with Bambi." Bambi was her dog, Personally, I think Bambi is a weird name for a dog. But Kelly had 3 dogs and 1 cat and 2 ferrets and fish. I wish I had pets.

"Oh, that's cool. I'm home alone."

"Didja ever find Pony?" Kelly asked. I heard her laugh and say 'Bambi!' after that.

"Yeah, I did." I left it at that, she doesn't need to know all the details.

"Neat-o." There was an awkward silence and I stopped it by saying,

"Well, I gotta go do homework now. See ya."

"Kay. Bye." The phone clicked. Now what am I gonna do? I haven't really met anyone at school besides Kelly. Well, there's Ashley, but she's just nice, and she always hangs out with Marissa. Maybe I'll just go back to Ponyboy's house. That could work… Except I don't feel like passing by my house. That doesn't seem like a good idea. I'll call Pony and ask Soda to come get me. Then I'll just seem stupid, he was just here. But what am I supposed to do? At that moment, I heard the door open.

"Sam? Ya home?" Janie hollered from the kitchen.

"Mmhmm." I mumbled. Janie walked in and sat next to me.

"How's it goin'?" She asked me carefully.

"Oh, just dandy. I've been waiting for you or Melissa to come home all day. On that note, where have you been?" I said, accusingly.

"I was with Two-Bit. We went to his house and his mom fixed us sum food."

"All day?" I stared at her.

"Uh, yeah." Janie twirled a piece of string hanging off of my blanket around her finger. "Listen, whaddya wanna do?"

"I need cigarettes. Let's go to the drugstore." I said grumpily. I'm still mad at her for leaving me all alone.

"M'kay." We drove in silence to the store, but when we got there, I saw a sight that made me wanna hurl.

"Uhh, Sam? Isn't that your brother's car?" Janie looked at the car closely.

"Yep." This can't be good. Oh crap. Maybe he just parked it there. Yeah that's gotta be it, right? Wrong. We walked in and the very first thing we saw was a couple immersed in a deep session of making out. The girl had blond hair and looked oddly familiar. The boy, as you can guess, was none other then Mac. Once the girl pulled away to take a drink from her soda I saw her face. It was Sandy.

"Uhh… This is pretty awkward." I mumbled to Janie as we both stood, in shock, in front of the booth that Mac and Sandy were in.

"Oh, hey Jen! How's it goin?" Sandy smiled a huge fake smile at me and I mimicked her in the same ditzy voice,

"It's Sam, and OMG who ever thought I would like see you here?" I tossed my head around for the valley girl effect. I turned to look at my now grimacing brother. "And like OMG times 2! You are like soooo my brother!" Janie started to laugh and Mac glared at me.

"So, you two know eachother?" Sandy looked at me confusedly. Uh, didn't I just say he was my brother? I tried to dumb it down for her.

"Oh yeah! We go way back, right Macky?" I grinned at him and heard Janie holding in her laughter behind me.

"Right. And, uh, will you excuse us? We were kinda in the middle of something important, right doll?" Mac looked slyly back at Sandy and her face fell.

"Don't call me that, Mac." She whispered. It was the only thing I had heard her say that didn't sound completely blond.

"Why?" He asked her while burning holes through my head with his eyes.

"Um, well-." Sandy began but Janie cut in.

"Oh I know why!" She raised her hand and waved it around. "See, that's what Soda calls Melissa. And I'm very sure he used to call you that too, right?"

Sandy shifted uncomfortably in her seat and then seemed to get her energy back. "No. I just think it's a dumb pet name, that's all. I mean, am I a miniature person made out of plastic that little girls play with?" I tried so hard not to answer that question, but apparently Janie doesn't have as much willpower as me.

"Yep!" Janie then flipped her hair and twirled a strand around her finger. I wanted to tell her that she sounded almost as ditzy as Sandy did most of the time, but I didn't. At this moment, I had a sudden urge to leave. Do I really want to sit here and argue with someone who probably doesn't know what 3+3 is?

"C'mon Janie, Let's go." I beckoned with a finger to the door, but Janie wouldn't move. She was obviously having a lot of fun teasing Sandy; who by the way was turning a deep shade of red at Janie's jokes.

"Yeah, just leave!" I could tell she was now fighting back tears. "Let's go Mac." She turned on her heel and strode out the door, Mac following closely.

"Ow!" As soon as Sandy walked out the door, she tripped over those little blocks of cement that go in the parking spaces. You know what I mean, right? Anyway, she stumbled over it and landed on her face. Janie laughed rudely and I saw Mac trying very hard to conceal his laughter. I ran out to help her up. I'm not sure why, but it's kinda how I felt when Darry was shoving my brother at me, waiting for me to hit him.

"Ge'roff me!" She screeched as soon as I grabbed her arm to help her up. Janie strode over to her car and called me to join her. I kicked a rock at Sandy, who was still lying on the ground, cradling her 'hurt' arm.

When I was sitting comfortably next to Janie, she gave me a dirty look and cried, "Why did you help her? Or, try to help her?"

"Uhh…" I just trailed off, trying to think of an answer. "I wonder how Melissa is." I completed.

"Mmhmm." Janie said miserably. "Ya know, I was havin' fun." I just nodded and gazed out the window, feeling sorry for myself, and I don't know why.

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**Sorry this chapter sucked.. Well at least, in my opinion. I'm having serious writers block… Sorry I didn't get this chap up for a million years. As I said, I had writers block. **


	12. Passing Notes

**Oo Hi! Ok, yeah I know, my last chapter was weird, and it sucked… This one will… uh… be better? –Shifty eyes- I swear! **

**Btw 123-.-HighOnLife-.-321- I really like cheese! And just to let all the people who read my story, Sandy has changed MAJOR in case you haven't noticed… And she is NOT Soda's type. Definitely Mac's type, lol. Little does he know that Sandy is…? Oh you'll find out! Oh and uh, I don't own the outsiders. I guess you can say I own Sandy cuz she's a completely different character pretty much. Well, at least, she acts different….**

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Why is it that right when you are starting to get used to the weekend, it's Monday? Why don't we have 2 day weeks and 5 dayweekends? Now that's something I would appreciate.

"Sam! Up and at'em! C'mon!" I heard someone yell at me through the door. I can't tell if it's Janie or Melissa… That's how groggy I am.

"Mmhmm. I'm up. I swear…" I let my head fall back down to my soft pillow. It'll only be an extra 10 minutes or so.

"SAM! SODA'S HERE!" Janie slammed the door to my room open and I sat up. I glanced at my clock and realized my 10 minutes had been almost an hour!

"Oi!" I hurriedly threw on whatever clothes were on my floor and it took me a while to notice that my shirt was on backwards. I slipped on some shoes without socks and pulled on a sweater. "I'm going!" I ran out of my door and wondered where Janie had gone, and where Melissa was now.

"Bye!" I yelled into the house as I left. "Hey Pony!" I threw my arms around him and attempted to wave cheerily to Soda. I knew I looked like an idiot, but I tried to ignore it. Why do my feet hurt so bad?

"Sam? Why are your shoes on backwards?" Pony asked me, confusedly. I laughed uneasily and switched them.

"I'm just kinda out of it today." I mumbled. I heard my stomach growl noisily and knew that I would be starving today. I never eat lunch at school. I just don't. We pulled into the school in silence and me and Pony got out.

"Sam, you allright?" Pony asked me hesitantly.

"Yeah." I groaned back to him. I can just tell, once again, that it's gonna be one of them days. I hurried off to first period without waiting for Pony. It occurred to me that he probably thinks I'm mad at him, and I almost stopped to let him catch up, but then I shook my head. Let him think I'm mad at him. I mean, I know I'm not, but still. I got to class just as the bell rang and went through the usual drill for Mr. Hackle. Sitting in my seat, I propped myself up on my elbows and listened to him drone. I doodled on a scrap piece of paper while passively listening to Mr. Hackle's coefficients lesson. I felt Ponyboy's eyes on the back of my head and I stopped doodling. God knows I'm gonna fail this class if I don't start paying attention. Especially with Melissa being all pregnant and moody. I felt something hit my back and I turned around swiftly. A paper airplane was at my feet and Pony looked at me expectantly.

"Open it." He whispered. I picked up the folded paper and carefully opened it. It was just a note from Pony asking, shocker, if I was mad at him. I scribbled back a 'no' and threw it behind me. I've always been bad at passing notes, and obviously Mr. Hackle saw the crumpled paper fly behind my head. He picked it up and read it aloud to our class.

"Sam, are you mad at me? Cuz if you are, I don't know what I did." Mr. Hackle paused between Pony's comment and mine to give the kids a chance to laugh and continued when it quieted down. "No." He threw the paper away and turned to my embarrassed red face.

"Ms. McMillan?"

"Yes?" I replied squeakily.

"What is the procedure for passing notes in my class?" Mr. Hackle looked down at me through his small glasses and glared.

"Uhh…" I trailed off. I'm not completely sure, seeing as I've never been caught, and I don't pay attention the rest of the time. Someone probably could've been caught for shooting someone and I wouldn't have noticed.

"Uh? Is that your answer? Ok, well Ms. McMillan I think someone would appreciate a visit to Mr. Shoe." Mr. Hackle pointed out the door in a military fashion and I saluted him and left, bringing only my math book.

I walked down the hall slowly; I'm in no rush to see Mr. Shoe. Who would be? Suddenly, I bumped into someone and was thrown to the ground.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to!" A young, nervous looking girl was hurriedly picking up her dropped papers around me while I lifted up my book.

"That's all right. I wasn't watching where I was going." I helped her, trying to be friendly.

"I'm Lena, by the way." The girl smiled at me and stuck out her hand.

"Sam." I shook it and quickly looked at her. She was real pretty; her hair was long and brown and pulled back into a sleek ponytail. Lena's eyes were warm brown and kicked out at the corner, giving her an elfish look. She was tall and thin, graceful, unlike me, short and stubby.

"Nice to meet you, but I gotta go. I have to visit Mr. Shoe." I waved good-bye and she waved back. Pleased that I had met a new friend, I charged into the office with a smile on my face.

"Hello dear. What do you need?" A young woman with pointy glasses was sitting at the secretary's desk, grinning at me.

"I was sent to see Mr. Shoe by Mr. Hackle." I replied dully. The secretary (whose nameplate read Sharon Monroe) clicked her tongue and wrote out a pass for me to enter Mr. Shoe's office.

"Thank you. And... Uh… button up your shirt dear." Ms. Monroe looked worriedly at my shirt which wasn't even low.

"Why? Is it against the code of conduct or something?" I asked while buttoning up the last two buttons. I look like an idiot.

"No, just do it." She glanced at Mr. Shoe's office door and turned her back on me to the typewriter. I knocked quietly on Mr. Shoe's door.

"Mr. Shoe? Hello? Are you in there?" I opened the door a sliver and my eyes bugged out. Sandy, yes as in Sandy my brother's girlfriend, was leaning over Mr. Shoe's desk, her breasts almost popping out of her tight shirt. She was giggling like crazy while Mr. Shoe whispered something in her ear.

"Ms. McMillan! Can you not see I am in a meeting right now? Go away!" Mr. Shoe stood up quickly, making Sandy jump.

"But, I was sent to see you…" I didn't bother to finish. Sandy was looking at me mischievously.

"Oh, hi Jen. How ya doin'?" She said, once again calling me by the wrong name.

"I'm dandy." I pretended to remember something. "Oh! Wow! I completely forgot. Melissa, you know, Soda's wife-to-be, has chosen me as a bridesmaid, and I was supposed to go home. Silly me. I wonder, have you gotten an invitation?" I looked expectantly at her.

"No." Sandy cocked her head to the left. I shook my head and continued,

"Didn't think ya would. I'm not surprised. So, anyway, can I go Mr. Shoe?"

"NO! DETENTION MS. MCMILLAN!" I stared, shocked by his angry retort.

"What did I do? You're the one playing with a teenager!" I immediately regretted my words the second I said them.

"2 weeks detention and they will be served consecutively, without your little boyfriend there." Mr. Shoe straightened his tie and marched out, leaving Sandy and me alone.

"I'll be leaving now…" I mumbled as I swept out of the cramped room. As I walked back to 1st period, I realized I left my math book in Mr. Shoe's office. I reeeeeeeaaaaalllly don't wanna go back there, but I guess I have to. I trudged back to the office and found Sandy sitting on a bench, pencil in hand, holding my book and finishing my homework. She jumped up briskly once she saw me and dropped my stuff.

"Uhh… Uh…" She stuttered, and then just ran off. It was then that I realized that Sandy wasn't as stupid as we all thought. She's just pretending? I checked the work she did and found that it was all right. Why would she act stupid? Does she think that being completely blonde will make Soda like her? What an idiot! I thought about this as I headed back to class, and heard the bell ring. I rushed to my next class, passing Ponyboy as I ran. I aimed a smile at him and he smiled back.

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**Mwahaha! I have finally updated! Sorry it took me so long, I'm still having a massive brain fart. I am sorry to inform you all that the story is almost finished, and that I will be forced to do one of those weird "6 months later" or whatever things. Ok, so don't be expecting an update very soon, I still have no idea what I'm gonna do for the next chapter. Please people! Give me ideas if you have them! TTFN (ta-ta for now) **


	13. Accidents happen

**Hi there. Lookie! I'm updating! Aren't ya proud? Ok, so yeah… **

**Disc: I don't own the outsiders. Or do I:dun dun dah: **

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The rest of Monday was pretty much the same. Teachers yelled at me, I attempted to do work, I said 'hi' to friends. Unusually, I didn't see Ponyboy at all for the rest of the day. Not even in last period, which we have together.

"Ms. McMillan?" Mrs. Granger, the history teacher, asked me. What is it with people in this school and calling everyone 'Ms. or Mr.?'

"Hmm?" I raised my head lazily from the history homework. Not like I was doing it, but I had to make it seem like I was, right?

"Where is Mr. Curtis?" She looked down her roll or whatever it's called.

"Dunno." I closed my book and continued. "Why do ya always call us Ms.? Or Mr.?" I could tell I was about to get into an argument. My blood was boiling for no apparent reason, and I was starting to get annoyed.

"Because it makes the students at our school seem like young ladies and gentleman." Mrs. Granger said, surprised. I nodded and stood up.

"Yeah, but do I LOOK like a young woman to you?" I said, referring to my ripped jeans I had thrown on and Janie's old shirt. Mrs. Granger just looked at me funny and returned to her papers. No, I want to argue. Why do people always ruin our fun right when it's starting?

"Fine. Walk away." I mumbled under my breath. I guess I really shouldn't be starting anything, and I'm not really bothered by the whole Ms. McMillan thing, but you know. I'm just in a bad mood. Mrs. Granger twirled around to talk to Stacey, the basic teacher's pet and I fiddled with my pen.

"Uh, hi." Someone said behind me. I spun around and saw Lena, the girl I met in the hallway.

"Hey. How ya doin'?" How did I never know that she was in this class? Now that I think about it, I have noticed her before. She's just so quiet. We talked a bit until Mrs. Granger told her to go back to her seat. Before she left, we had already decided that she would call me after school.

_BUZZ BUZZ_

"_Mrs. Granger?"_ Mrs. Monroe's voice blared over the intercom.

"Yes?" Mrs. Granger answered the box.

"_Can you send Samantha McMillan down to the office? They're here to pick her up."_

"Yes. Thank you." -_Click- _"Sam? You better go." Wow, look. She called me Sam. I actually smiled and waved good-bye to Lena.

At the office, Melissa was waiting for me. She was wearing her nightgown and slippers. She looked around me quickly then spoke.

"I wanted to pick you up now, that way no one would see me pick you up later." She grabbed my hand and led me out the door. I just followed her, counting our steps. That's a weird thing I do.

"Where is Pony?" I asked her. Maybe she knows.

"I dunno." Melissa said. She opened the car door and I followed suit. "Sam? What do you know about Sandy?" She asked me quickly.

"Huh? Oh, a bit." I answered truthfully. "Uhh, Melissa? Drive!" I said this because I saw the one and only Trinny walking up to the school. Or, falling up to the school I could say. She looked more drunk then usual.

"Why? Tell me about Sandy." Melissa demanded, putting the car into neutral. I pointed hurriedly to the figure that was Trinny who was passing our car. I slid down into my seat, hoping she wouldn't see me.

"Oh." Was all Melissa said. She pulled out of the parking lot and passed Trinny.

"Thanks. Ok, well… Sandy… I've met her on a few occasions." I stalled. I'm not sure why I don't feel like telling Melissa about Sandy, I just don't particularly think it would be a good idea.

"Aaand?" Melissa stared at me.

"Well, she's blond." I tried.

"Duh. I've seen her, Sam."

"Oh." I nervously laughed. "Well, I saw her today, with Mr. Shoe." Melissa just nodded and signaled me to continue. "They claimed to be having a 'meeting'." I put air quotes around meeting.

"Mmhmm." Melissa didn't look at me, but focused on the road.

"And I think she's with my brother." I concluded. This caught Melissa's attention.

"She's not with Soda? Are you sure?" Ahh. The real reason for Melissa's depression lately has finally come out.

"Yeah, he hates her guts." It was then that I realized we weren't going home. "Where are we goin'?"

"Somewhere." Melissa said. She turned the car sharply and I had to hold on to my seatbelt so I wouldn't fly into her. Right as we turned the corner, Darry's truck came hurtling from the other side. For a split second before, I knew what was gonna happen.

"MELISSA! TURN!" I screamed as I saw Darry's scared face in his car as it came toward us.

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I woke up, rubbing my eyes in a soft bed. I sat up and looked around, but I saw nothing. It was pitch dark. Where am I? I heard an intercom blare somewhere and I reasoned that I was at school. But why?

"Hey, baby. Good morning." Ponyboy's soft voice said next to me. I couldn't see him, but I could feel his hand on my wrist. I felt someone touch the back of my head and I could see again. A black bandana fell off my eyes and I saw Pony and Soda sitting next to me. The room I was in was all white, and I figured that I wasn't in school. Why would I be lying in a bed at school? I tried to lift my right arm, but couldn't. It was real heavy, and when I looked at it, it was covered in a white cast.

"Holy shit!" I hollered. "What the hell happened?"

"Don't you remember anything?" Soda asked me. Suddenly, visions of Darry and his car and Melissa swam hazily to my mind.

"Shit." I said, starting to cry. "But what happened exactly?"

Pony and Soda exchanged glances and I realized that Soda was crying. "You guys were goin' so fast. And Darry couldn't stop." Oh my god.

"Is Darry ok?" I whispered. If he was dead, I don't know how I could handle it. I would have to go through life knowing that it was my fault that someone was dead, or at least that I was involved.

"We're pretty sure. His skull is fractured. You guys rolled into a ditch." Pony said, because Soda was too overcome with tears. So why was Soda crying so hard? A lump formed in my chest when I thought_, Melissa. _

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**Cliff hanger! I'm proud of myself! So yeah, review please. Mwahaha! **


	14. I love you

**Wowie! I'm updating like mad! Maybe it's cuz the writers block died! Mwahaha!**

**Disc: I own Sam, and Melissa and Janie, and Mac and Trinny and all that jazz. **

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I sobbed into my sheets while Pony sat next to me, holding my hand. Janie arrived about an hour ago, and she was sitting with me too. If possible, she was crying even harder then me. Soda had left, the doctor had to take him away. They said he wasn't supposed to tell me yet. I got out of bed quickly, and shook Pony off me.

"I'm gonna go see Melissa." I declared. Janie burst into a fresh batch of tears and put her head down.

"Sam…" Pony pulled me back to the bed. "You need your rest." I ripped my hand away and ran. Then I realized that I had no idea where I was going.

"Excuse me? Where is Melissa Ramirez staying?" I asked the cheerful looking secretary at the front desk. I figured that if it had just happened, this lady might not have noticed yet.

"Room 113, dearie." She grinned at me and continued reading a letter that smelled like perfume and was covered in hearts.

"Thanks." I ran down the hall and was thankful that the lady was to distracted to notice that I was wearing a hospital gown and that I had a cast. I burst into room 113 and saw Soda sitting on a chair next to a bed that held Melissa.

"She's not… yet?" I asked him timidly. Soda vigorously shook his head no and returned to Melissa. He seemed to be talking to her.

"Mel?" I walked over to her bed and saw that she looked terrible. She had bandages around her head, and tubes were sticking out of her, probably to help her breathe. Her eyes were just open and she tried a sick smile at me.

"Hi." She forced out. Her body shook violently and Soda gave me a dirty look for making her hurt. But she continued anyway. "They said I lost the baby. Not that it matters, since I've only got a couple minutes to live." She obviously didn't like beating around the bush. "I love you Sam." I bent down and held her free hand. I started crying all over. A doctor wearing a white coat walked in and looked angry.

"Hey! I told you to get out, boy!" He pointed at Soda and then at me. "You too!"

"This," Soda said, wiping his eyes, "is my wife. And I love her more than anything! You cannot tell me what the hell to do!" I stood up and thought that I should leave Melissa and her last moments with Soda. I wanted to hug her so bad. To have her hold me in her arms and stroke my hair, to tell me everything was allright.

"Miss? Aren't you supposed to be in a room?" The doctor pointed at my gown. I shook my head yes and kissed Melissa's cheek softly.

"I love you, Melissa. More than anyone I've ever known. More than Janie, more than Pony. Even though we'll never see eachother again, I will never forget about you." I squeezed her hand and Melissa's own eyes started tearing. Then, they closed. Soda howled and tears trickled down his face faster than a waterfall. Everything became blurry and the doctor seemed to realize that he should leave. I sat there for another hour, just me and Soda. We held Melissa's cold hands and cried silently to ourselves. This is all Sandy's fault. Soda knew it too.

"Sam?" Soda sniffed. "I think we've gotta go." I let go of Melissa's hand and let it fall softly to her side. I exploded. Me and Soda stood there, hugging each other and crying like we've never cried before.

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I had to stay in the hospital for about a week. Throughout that whole week, I never stopped crying. Pony stayed by my side the whole time. Sometimes, Soda was there too. I got home on that Sunday. The house was a mess. Janie apparently had no want to clean. She was lying on the floor face-down, with her music on.

"Janie?" I whispered. I had told Pony not to come inside, because I thought Janie would rather be alone with me.

"Yah?" She rolled onto her back and stared at me. She pulled me down with her and we cried together. I remembered Pony, and I opened the door slowly. He was still standing there.

"You gonna be all right?" he asked me timidly. I tried a smile, but it didn't work.

"Yeah. I think so." More like I hope so. Pony grabbed my hands and kissed me softly on the lips.

"Sam, I just had to let you know that I love you, ok? Don't forget that. Melissa forgot that Soda loved her." Pony kissed me again and walked away. I fingered a hole in the sweater that I was wearing and realized that there was still something I need to know about.

"Wait! Pony!" I cried.

"Yeah?" He turned around and came back.

"What happened to Sandy?" I asked him.

"Oh. Yeah, she came to our house a few days ago. She looked a real mess and apologized to Soda for causing him so much trouble. She actually seemed sincere. Her and Soda talked for a long while about everything. She's goin' to the funeral." The funeral. I forgot about it. It was tomorrow.

"Oh. Ok." I wasn't in a kissing mood, so I just hugged him tight and let Pony leave.

"Pony!" I hollered at his retreating back.

"What?" He yelled against the wind.

"I love you too!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Pony smiled broadly and ran off. I returned inside and found Janie listening at the door.

"That wus 'dorable." She said, wiping tears from her brown eyes.

"Yeah…" I smiled. I hugged her around the waist and we sat on the couch, watching anything on TV and sitting in silence. It was times like these when we both knew who we were thinking about. We didn't say anything, but Melissa was on both of our minds, and I know she is on Soda's mind and Sandy's mind. I decided that I would wait until the funeral tomorrow to decide about Sandy. After that, I'll just have to go with the flow and try to figure out what the hell I'm gonna do with my life. And I'll have to somehow pick my way through the rest of the time, trying to forget, but remembering at the same time.

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**It's over! It's actually over. I was crying as I wrote this chapter. I may write a sequel, so if you want me to, say it in a review. Thank you all for reviewing and reading my story. I loved writing it. See ya later, little cheeses! **


	15. Credits

**Credits**

**Sam McMillan- Sami Loper**

**Ponyboy Curtis- Ponyboy Curtis**

**Melissa Ramirez- My best friend, Melissa**

**Janie- my own made up character**

**Daniel 'Mac' McMillan- based on my sister, Meme**

**Trinny McMillan- my own made up character**

**Mr. Shoe-a sheer moment of randomness**

**Kelly- My friend Kelly **

**Lena- my perfect friend Jaylena **

**Story- Sami Loper, assisted by Melissa **


End file.
